Psychological Flexibility, Stigma, and Quality of Life in Psoriasis Patients

Abstract

Psoriasis is a disease that negatively affects the quality of life and is commonly seen together with depression and anxiety. In this study, the relationships between the psychological flexibility levels, psoriasis severity, depression, anxiety, and quality of life of patients with psoriasis were examined. For this purpose, 118 patients with psoriasis and 118 healthy controls were evaluated with the Sociodemographic and Clinical Data Form, Freiburg Mindfulness Inventory, Acceptance and Action Questionnaire-II, and Cognitive Fusion Questionnaire. Moreover, patient groups were applied the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale, Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale, Psoriasis Area Severity Index, Psoriasis Internalized Stigma Scale, and Dermatology Life Quality Index. The psychological flexibility levels of patients with psoriasis were observed to be lower than those of healthy controls. Psoriasis patients with low psychological flexibility had higher depression, anxiety, and internalized stigma scores. No correlation between the severity of psoriasis and depression, anxiety, and stigma was found. Stigma and HAM-D scores were found to be independent risk factors for reduced quality of life. Our findings emphasize the necessity of psychological evaluation in patients with psoriasis and show that psychological treatments will positively contribute to the person’s quality of life. The results of our study show that awareness, acceptance, and cognitive decomposition interventions aimed at increasing psychological flexibility may be useful in this population.