Fuschia M Sirois

Durham University | DU · Department of Psychology

Abstract The equivocal and debated findings from a 2007 meta-analysis, which viewed perfectionism as a unidimensional construct, suggested that perfectionism was unrelated to procrastination. The present meta-analysis aimed to provide a conceptual update and re-analysis of the procrastination-perfectionism association guided by both a multi-dimens...

Objective: Although gratitude has been identified as a key clinically relevant trait for improving well-being, it is understudied within medical populations. The current study addressed this gap and extended previous and limited cross-sectional research by examining the longitudinal associations of gratitude to depression in two chronic illness sam...

Background: Disclosure of the use of complementary health approaches (CHA) is an important yet understudied health behaviour with important implications for patient care. Yet research into disclosure of CHA has been atheoretical and neglected the role of health beliefs. Purpose: Using a consumer commitment model of CHA use as a guiding conceptual...

Objective: Emerging theory and research suggests that self-compassion promotes the practice of health behaviors, and implicates self-regulation as an explanatory factor. However, previous investigations focused only on behavior intentions or health risk behaviors, and did not investigate the role of emotions. This study expands on this research usi...

Personality is an important epidemiological factor for understanding health outcomes. This study investigated the associations of trait procrastination with hypertension and cardiovascular disease (HT/CVD) and maladaptive coping by testing an extension of the procrastination-health model among individuals with and without HT/CVD. Individuals with s...

This study aimed to identify the impact of the first UK COVID-19 lockdown on individuals’ weight management attempts (WMA). A self-regulation theoretical framework was used to identify predictors of continuing with a WMA, and weight change during the lockdown. An online retrospective cross-sectional study was conducted after the first UK COVID-19 l...

We previously conducted two studies that investigated the relationship between family functioning and emotion regulation. Both studies were preregistered on OSF, and the protocols for these studies can be found via the following links: https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/HMUE6 (Study 1) and https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/P7AK8 (Study 2). In Study 1, w...

Despite research indicating that responding with self-compassion to lapses in goal pursuit can help people to achieve their goals, there is evidence that people often struggle to respond with self-compassion when it would benefit them. One reason is that people may not be familiar with the concept of self-compassion or may think negatively of self-...

Loneliness is an important public health issue with consequences for health-related outcomes. Health-related behaviours is a proposed explanatory pathway. There is some evidence that loneliness influences eating behaviours, although the reasons for this have not been fully examined. In addition, how eating behaviours are conceptualised and the subs...

Introduction: Emotion regulation, or the way that people manage their emotional experiences, has been associated with mental health and wellbeing (Aldao et al., 2016; Kraiss et al., 2020). In turn, family functioning, which reflects the quality of family relationships and interactions, has been shown to play a role in emotion regulation (Cheung & P...

The present study examines connections between patient expectations and health-related quality of life. We explore a key distinction between expectations about general health and expectations for functional improvement. Patients were 1444 individuals with multiple conditions experiencing chronic pain who were seeking treatment at the Gastein Healin...

A growing evidence base supports self-compassion as an important quality for promoting physical health. This research has demonstrated that self-compassion can have positive consequences for a range of inter-related physical health trajectories and outcomes including subjective health, stress, sleep, and health behaviors. This chapter draws on insi...

Objectives: Procrastination is a common form of self-regulation failure that a growing evidence base suggests can confer risk for poor health outcomes, especially when it becomes habitual. However, the proposed linkages of chronic procrastination to health outcomes have not been tested over time or accounted for the contributions of higher-order p...

Research over the past two decades has continued to highlight the robust associations between procrastination and stress across multiple populations and contexts. Despite this burgeoning evidence base and theory linking procrastination to higher levels of stress, as well as the reverse, the role of context in this potentially dynamic association ha...

Background: The current investigation aimed to assess the mental health burden on healthcare workers during the early stages of the COVID-19 pandemic. Methods: A link to an online survey was sent to an estimate of 18,100 employees of Sheffield Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust (STH) who had access to email. The survey was completed between...

Procrastination is a form of self-regulation failure that can have significant negative consequences for individuals. Research evidence indicates that mindfulness can be beneficial for self-regulation, and also procrastination is associated with low levels of mindfulness. Therefore, the current study tested the effectiveness of mindfulness training...

Higher emotional capital is associated with enhanced positive emotions, social relationships, social capital and human capital. The present study developed and evaluated a personal emotional capital questionnaire for adolescents (PECQ-A) that assessed 10 components of this capital. The PECQ-A was administrated to two samples of Iranian 15-year-olds...

Background Up to one-third of young people live with chronic physical conditions (eg, diabetes, asthma, and autoimmune disease) that frequently involve recurrent pain, fatigue, activity limitations, stigma, and isolation. These issues may be exacerbated as young people transition through adolescence. Accordingly, young people with chronic illness a...

BACKGROUND Up to one-third of young people live with chronic physical conditions (eg, diabetes, asthma, and autoimmune disease) that frequently involve recurrent pain, fatigue, activity limitations, stigma, and isolation. These issues may be exacerbated as young people transition through adolescence. Accordingly, young people with chronic illness a...

Individuals with fibromyalgia report lower levels of health-related quality of life (HRQL) compared to other chronically ill populations and interpersonal factors (i.e., social support) may influence risk. What is less understood is how intrapersonal factors (i.e., self-compassion) may impact the social support-HRQL linkage. We examined the associa...

Honorable Mention for the Researching Injustice and Social Equality (RISE) Research Award

The current study evaluated the psychometric properties of the Mental Health Continuum Short Form (MHC-SF), a measure of well-being, in Iranian adolescents. The MHC-SF was administrated to two samples, each consisting of 400 Iranian 15-year-olds recruited using multistage random cluster sampling (N1 = 400, N2 = 400, total N = 800). Exploratory and...

Objective: Evidence suggests that the poorer mental health associated with ADHD is partially explained by adverse psychosocial correlates of the condition. As recent studies show that self-compassion is negatively associated with ADHD, this study investigates if levels of self-compassion may explain the mental health outcomes in people with ADHD co...

Responding with self‐compassion to lapses in goal pursuit helps people to achieve their goals, yet evidence suggests that some people struggle to respond with self‐compassion. The current research proposes that social cognition models such the Theory of Planned Behaviour and the Prototype Willingness Model could explain why some people, such as tho...

People with ADHD are at high risk of receiving criticism from others, yet criticism has not been well researched in this population. This study aimed to provide a rich understanding of what experiences adults with ADHD traits have with criticism. As part of a larger study, 162 participants with ADHD and high ADHD traits provided a written response...

Background: The GHG combines several treatment factors such as exposure to low level radon and to high numbers of negative ions, high humidity and mild hyperthermia in a moderate altitude (1280 m) above sea level. Early spa reactions, including short-term worsening of specific (e.g. pain) or general symptoms (e.g. fatigue) or a deterioration of sle...

Recording of heart rate variability (HRV) is a non-invasive and continuous measurement method that allows investigating the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and its reaction to environmental influences. For a precise measurement of HRV data, a carefully chosen study design and environment are required to minimize secondary influences. One major influ...

Objective To identify correlates of quality of life (QoL) measured with the Quality of Life Scale (QOLS) in participants of a multidisciplinary day hospital treatment program for fibromyalgia (FM). Methods In this cross-sectional, observational study, “real world” data from 480 FM patients including socio-demographics, pain variables and questionn...

Background The novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic has affected humans worldwide and led to unprecedented stress and mortality. Detrimental effects of the pandemic on mental health, including risk of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), have become an increasing concern. The identification of prospective neurobiological vulnerability markers fo...

Recording of heart rate variability (HRV) is a noninvasive and continuous measurement method that allows investigating the autonomic nervous system (ANS) and its reaction to environmental influences. For a precise measurement of HRV data, a carefully chosen study design and environment is required to minimize secondary influences. One major influen...

Loneliness is a growing public health concern that is associated with a range of negative health outcomes. The extent to which loneliness may also be associated with greater use of primary health care remains unclear. The present meta-analysis aimed to address this gap by quantifying research on the association of loneliness to primary health care...

People often fail at following through with their health behaviour goals. How health goals are cognitively represented holds promise for understanding successful health behaviour change. Health-related possible selves (HPS) reflect cognitive representations of a future self that people may wish to achieve (hoped-for-HPS) or avoid (feared-HPS), that...

"Data Extravaganza" invited oral presentation

Fibromyalgia has a significant impact on the lives of patients; symptoms are influenced by psychological factors, such as psychological flexibility and catastrophizing. The objective of this study was to determine the importance of these variables in moderating the association between the severity and impact of fibromyalgia symptoms. A total of 187...

Research suggests that multiple forms of relaxation training (e.g., progressive muscle relaxation, meditation, breathing exercises, visualization, and autogenics) can help individuals reduce stress, enhance relaxation states, and improve overall well-being. We examined three different, commonly used approaches to stress relaxation—progressive muscl...

Background Stigma, defined as social devaluation of an individual, can be an important stressor for chronic pain patients [1]. Not every condition is stigmatized. A relevant factor for illness stigmatization seems to be whether the cause is mental-behavioural or physical. Chronic pain is often regarded as an imaginary illness or caused by psycholog...

Background In chronic pain care a multidimensional perspective with attention to patients’ cognitions, emotions, and their ability to cope is needed (1). Previous studies are also pointing to the role of experiencing meaningfulness in life in the adjustment to disability.Therefore care should additionally focus on the existential domain of patients...

Theory and evidence suggests that person-centred models may be especially relevant for elucidating the role of perfectionism in health and well-being in those with chronic health conditions. This may be particularly true for conditions, such as chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS), in which perfectionism is known to play a prominent role in health outcom...

Objective: To date, research with people with inflammatory bowel disease (IBD) has only examined how self-compassion is linked with stress, and have exclusively used cross-sectional designs. This study aims to examine the associations of self-compassion with depressive symptoms, anxiety, and stress in people with IBD over time. Methods: Participan...

(1) Background: The present study developed and evaluated a personal emotional capital questionnaire (PECQ) for adults that assessed 10 domains of personal emotional capital. (2) Method: Initially, 100 items were created and then administered to students attending Semnan University and Semnan University of Medical Sciences in Iran. Of the 700 quest...

Suicide is a significant public health concern. Risk factors include depression, anxiety, hopelessness, being college-aged, and chronic illness. Self-compassion may reduce risk. We examined the relation between self-compassion and suicide risk, and the mediating effects of depression, anxiety, and hopelessness. Our cross-sectional study included fo...

A preference for taking risk troubles people across multiple domains including health, economics, and social well-being. Prior research has demonstrated that risk preference can be influenced by time perspective (TP). However, little is known about the neural substrates underlying the effect of TP on risk preference. Here, we used a voxel-based mor...

Objective: Health-care workers (HCW) are at risk for psychological distress during an infectious disease outbreak, such as the coronavirus pandemic, due to the demands of dealing with a public health emergency. This rapid systematic review examined the factors associated with psychological distress among HCW during an outbreak. Method: We systemati...

Converging theory and evidence highlights procrastination as a form of self-control failure. However, the underlying neural correlates of how self-control is associated with procrastination remains unclear. As such we investigated the neural basis for self-control association with procrastination using voxel-based morphometry (VBM) and resting-stat...

We investigate whether the tendency to self-affirm in response to threat is associated with how people feel when they weigh themselves. People who were preoccupied with their weight anticipated feeling less negative (Studies 1a and 1b) and felt less negative (Study 2) when self-weighing if they typically affirmed their strengths. Study 3 experiment...

We present two studies that together provide preliminary evidence to challenge the view that the relationship between adult attachment and mindfulness is bi-directional (Study 1: repeated measures design and Study 2: a repeated measures study examining the efficacy of attachment security priming and a mindfulness induction). Adult attachment anxiet...

We present two studies that together provide preliminary evidence to challenge the view that the relationship between adult attachment and mindfulness is bi-directional (Study 1: repeated measures design and Study 2: a repeated measures study examining the efficacy of attachment security priming and a mindfulness induction). Adult attachment anxiet...

Objectives Attention deficit hyperactivity disorder (ADHD) is associated with increased criticism from others. To date, there is little research considering the consequences of how others respond to people with ADHD. Self-compassion is a positive way of relating to oneself during difficulty. Here, we investigate whether levels of self-compassion di...

Despite extensive evidence that time perspective is associated with a range of important outcomes across a variety of life domains (e.g., health, education, wealth), the question of why time perspective has such wide-reaching effects remains unknown. The present review proposes that self-regulatory processes can offer insight into why time perspect...

Objective: Little is known about potential mechanisms of action linking protective positive psychological variables and functional disability in patients with rheumatic and musculoskeletal disease. We examined symptoms of psychopathology, including stress, depression and anxiety, and sleep quality, as serial mediators of the association between gr...

Relationship dissolution can cause declines in emotional well-being, particularly if there are children involved. Individuals’ capacity to cope with the pragmatics of the situation, such as agreeing childcare arrangements, can be impaired. Before now, there has been no psychometric test to evaluate individuals’ emotional readiness to cope with thes...

Background: Health-care workers (HCW) are at risk for psychological distress during an infectious disease outbreak due to the demands of dealing with a public health emergency. Aims: To examine the factors associated with psychological distress among HCW during an outbreak. Method: We conducted a rapid review of the factors associated with psycholo...

The aims of our study were to test the role of stress in explaining the links between multidimensional perfectionism and sleep quality and to replicate our findings with two distinct samples and two different measures of perfectionism. Sample 1 included 335 Canadian undergraduate students (n = 276 women, Mage = 21.7 years, SD = 4.9) who completed s...

Zusammenfassung Ziel der Studie Der Anteil an erwachsenen Bluthochdruckpatienten wurde 2010 weltweit auf 31,1% geschätzt. Ziel dieser Studie war es die Effekte von Lebensstiländerungen bei Patienten mit arterieller Hypertonie (AH) in der Primärversorgung zu untersuchen. Methodik Systematische Literaturrecherche in den Online-Datenbanken PubMed, E...

Introduction Patient education is an important part of the management of rheumatic and musculoskeletal diseases. Given that patients with diverse diseases do not have the same needs, it is crucial to assess the educational requirements of targeted groups to provide tailored educational interventions. The aim of our study was to assess educational n...

Multidimensional perfectionism is a vulnerability factor for poor individual psychological well-being. Less is known about how parental perfectionism is associated with risk for poor child psychological outcomes. The aim of the current meta-analysis was to summarise the nature and magnitude of the association between dimensions of parental perfecti...

Background: Chronic medical conditions affect up to 35% of children and adolescents. Youth with chronic medical conditions are at an increased risk of psychological distress and reduced health-related quality of life, and report rates of mental illness up to double that of their physically healthy peers. Accessible, evidence-based interventions for...

Background: Although there is growing evidence of the relevance of self-compassion for understanding health outcomes, few studies have examined self-compassion in relation to self-reported physical health status, also known as self-rated health (SRH). This study addressed this gap by examining the associations between self-compassion and SRH across...

Objectives Veterans are at particular risk for suicide due to psychopathological, emotional, and interpersonal risk factors. However, the presence of individual-level protective factors, such as self-compassion, may reduce risk, becoming more salient at increasing levels of distress and psychopathology, per theory. We examined the relation between...

Objective: Gratitude, or thankfulness for positive aspects of life, is related to psychosocial well-being and decreased psychopathology, and may reduce suicide risk. We explored four potential hypotheses purported to explain the beneficial outcomes of gratitude (schematic, positive affect, broaden-and-build, and coping), hypothesizing that hopeles...

Subjective effects on health of Gastein Healing Gallery.

Influence of self-reported treatment expectations and motivations on treatment outcomes of the Gastein Healing Gallery

Subjective effects on health of Gastein Healing Gallery

Objective: Suicide risk is a significant public health concern for college students and may be exacerbated by hopelessness resulting from negative life events (NLE), yet may be ameliorated by self-compassion. We examined the mediating role of hopelessness in the relation between NLE and suicidal behavior, and the moderating influence of self-compa...

Individuals with fibromyalgia are at greater risk for depressive symptoms than the general population, and this may be partially attributable to physical symptoms that impair day‐to‐day functioning. However, individual‐level protective characteristics may buffer risk for psychopathology. For instance, the ability to perceive a “silver lining” in on...

First Place in Graduate Oral Competition

Objective: Advances in understanding of the perfectionism construct have been limited by an almost exclusive focus on a variable-centered approach. This study utilized a person-oriented approach to examine Hewitt and Flett’s (1991) conceptualization of multidimensional perfectionism in relation to health and well-being. Method: Cluster analysis was...

Importance: Developed in California to enable community-dwelling older adults to maintain healthy and meaningful activities, Lifestyle Redesign® is a well-known cost-effective preventive occupational therapy intervention. The impact of a newly adapted French version on older French-Canadians was, however, unknown. Objective: To explore the influ...

Purpose. Self-compassion has been associated with a set of adaptive coping strategies, which in turn explain better adjustment in individuals with chronic illnesses such as inflammatory bowel disease and arthritis. The aim of this study was to investigate whether self-compassion is associated with adjustment in people with epilepsy (PWE) and people...

Background Hemodialysis patients (HDP) often suffer from kidney failure with comorbidities, such as depression, anxiety and stress. Physical activity (PA) has a positive influence on these comorbidities. Objective The purpose was to determine the current level of PA and identify potential correlates influencing PA in HDP to deduce prevention appro...

Trait procrastination is increasingly recognised as having relevance for a number of consequential outcomes, including health. However, research with clinical populations may be hindered by longer scales. The present research addresses this issue by developing and validating a short version of Lay's General Procrastination Scale (GPS), a widely use...

Background The study of resilient traits (RT) including self-compassion, self-forgiveness, forgiveness of others, and gratitude has garnered the attention of investigators involved in health and healthcare research (1, 2). Little is known about such RT in patients with AS, RA, and FM. Objectives To examine patient group differences in levels and m...

Educational needs in patients with rheumatic and musculosceletal diseases

Background Sleep problems and fatigue are very common in rheumatic diseases and painful conditions. There is mounting evidence that sleep problems and fatigue have reciprocal influences on musculoskeletal pain, mood, and overall well-being of patients with rheumatic disorders. In addition, sleeping problems are a risk factor for developing chronic...

The present study examined differences between fibromyalgia patients and healthy controls on anger rumination, mental health and quality of life and tested anger rumination as a mediator of patient–control differences in mental health and quality of life. Participants were a propensity score‐matched sample of 58 fibromyalgia patients and 58 healthy...

adults of college age are at particular risk for psychopathology, non-suicidal self-injury (NSSI), and suicidal behavior, but protective factors (e.g., self-compassion) may buffer risk. We examined the mediating effect of NSSI on the relation between anxiety/depressive symptoms and suicide risk, and the moderating role of self-compassion. Students...