Browsing by Author "Hallit, Souheil"
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- Effects of Hormonal Replacement Therapy and Mindfulness-Based Stress Reduction on Climacteric Symptoms Following Risk-Reducing Salpingo-OophorectomyPublication . Ali, Amira Mohammed; Al-Dossary, Saeed A.; Laranjeira, Carlos; Amer, Faten; Hallit, Souheil; Alkhamees, Abdulmajeed A.; Aljubilah, Aljawharah Fahad; Aljaberi, Musheer A.; Alzeiby, Ebtesam Abdullah; Fadlalmola, Hammad Ali; Pakai, Annamaria; Khatatbeh, HaithamBreast Cancer Associated Susceptibility Proteins Type 1/2 (BRCA1/2) promote cellular functioning by modulating NRF2-mediated antioxidant signaling. Redox failure in women with BRCA1/2 insufficiency increases the risk for breast/ovarian/uterine cancers. Risk-reducing salpingo-oophorectomy (RRSO) is a prophylactic surgery of the reproductive organs, which is frequently conducted by the age of 40 to lower the occurrence of cancer in women with BRCA1/2 mutations. However, abrupt estrogen decline following RRSO causes ovarian failure, which implicates various cellular physiological processes, resulting in the increased release of free radicals and subsequent severe onset of menopausal symptoms. Comfort measures (e.g., hormonal replacement therapy (HRT) and mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR)) may improve chronological menopause-related quality of life, but their specific effects are not clear in women with gene mutations. Aiming to fill the gap, this study used path analysis to examine the effects of HRT and MBSR on menopausal symptoms among RRSO patients (N = 199, mean age = 50.5 ± 6.7 years). HRT directly alleviated the levels of urogenital symptoms (β = −0.195, p = 0.005), which mediated its indirect significant effects on the somatic–vegetative and psychological symptoms of menopause (β = −0.046, −0.067; both p values = 0.004, respectively), especially in BRCA2 carriers and in women who were currently physically active, premenopausal at the time of RRSO, had a high BMI, and had no history of breast cancer. It increased the severity of urogenital symptoms in women with a history of cancer. MBSR, on the other hand, was associated with indirect increases in the intensity of the somatic–vegetative and psychological symptoms of menopause (β = 0.108, 0.029; p = 0.003, 0.033, respectively). It exerted positive direct effects on different menopausal symptoms in multigroup analysis. The results suggest that young women undergoing recent RRSO may benefit from HRT at an individual level, while their need for extensive measures to optimize their psychological wellbeing is ongoing. The adverse effects of MBSR, which are captured in the present study, imply that MBSR may interfere with redox sensitivity associated with estradiol fluctuations in BRCA1/2 carriers. Investigations are needed to test this hypothesis and elaborate on the underlying mechanisms in these women.
- Loneliness among dementia caregivers: evaluation of the psychometric properties and cutoff score of the Three-item UCLA Loneliness ScalePublication . Ali, Amira Mohammed; Al-Dossary, Saeed A.; Laranjeira, Carlos; Selim, Abeer; Hallit, Souheil; Alkhamees, Abdulmajeed A.; Aljubilah, Aljawharah Fahad; Aljaberi, Musheer A.; Alzeiby, Ebtesam Abdullah; Pakai, Annamaria; Khatatbeh, HaithamIntroduction: Dementia is a chronic progressive syndrome, with an entire loss of function in the late stages. The care of this demanding condition is primarily provided by family members, who often suffer from chronic burnout, distress, and loneliness. This instrumental study aimed to examine the factor structure, reliability, convergent validity, criterion validity, and cutoff scores of a short loneliness measure: the Three-Item version of the University of California, Los Angeles, Loneliness Scale (UCLALS3) in a convenience sample of dementia family caregivers (N = 571, mean age = 53 ±12 years, 81.6% females). Methods: Exploratory and confirmatory factor analyses were used to examine the structure of the UCLALS3 while receiver-operating characteristic (ROC) curve, including caregiving burden and emotional distress as outcomes, was used to examine its cutoff. Results: One factor accounted for 79.0% of the variance in the UCLALS3; it was perfectly invariant across genders but variant at the metric level across countries. The scale had adequate internal consistency (alpha = 0.87), high item-total correlations (0.69 - 0.79), reduced alpha if item deleted (0.77 - 0.86), and strong positive correlations with caregiving burden and psychological distress scores (r = 0.57 & 0.74, p values = 0.01). Percentile scores and the ROC curve suggested two cutoffs (≥6 and ≥6.5), which classified 59.3 and 59.4% of the participants as having higher levels of loneliness-comparable to global levels of loneliness among informal caregivers. The Mann-Whitney test revealed significantly high levels of caregiving burden and distress in caregivers scoring ≥6.5 on the UCLALS3. Conclusion: The UCLALS3 is a valid short scale; its cutoff ≥6.5 may flag major clinically relevant symptoms in dementia caregivers, highlighting the need for tailored interventions that boost caregivers' individual perception of social relationships. More investigations are needed to confirm UCLALS3 invariance across countries.
- Validation of the Eight‐Item Paranoid Thoughts Scale (GPTS‐8) in Tunisian Arab AdultsPublication . Fekih‐Romdhane, Feten; Ghorbel, Ons; Laranjeira, Carlos; Cheour, Majda; Harb, Frederic; Hallit, SouheilBackground Growing research indicated that it is highly valuable and clinically beneficial to quantitatively measure and detect the potential presence of paranoid thinking. Among the various existing self-report instruments to measure paranoia, the Green et al. Paranoid Thoughts Scale (GPTS) was recommended as having the most well-defined, clearly articulated construct underlying its items, and the strongest psychometric qualities in general and clinical population samples. Yet, the psychometric performance of the GPTS remains unknown in the Arab language and culture. To address this gap, our study aimed to explore the psychometric properties of an Arabic translation of the shortest version of the scale (i.e., the GPTS-8). Methods A cross-sectional study was conducted. Data were collected during the period September 1st 2024 to January 31th 2025. A total of 552 Arabic-speaking general population adults from Tunisia aged 25.81 ± 4.86 years participated. Results Analyses provided support for a bidimensional model, with a first dimension referring to ideas of persecution and a second one corresponding to ideas of reference. The internal consistency reliability coefficients were high, with both Cronbach's alpha and McDonald's ω reported to be 0.83 for ideas of persecution and 0.83 for ideas of reference. Measurement invariance was established for both subscales, implying that the Arabic GPTS-8 measures the same underlying construct of paranoia in the same way across male and female respondents. Finally, paranoia scores correlated positively with psychotic experiences scores, indicating convergent validity, as well as with depression, anxiety and insomnia scores, supporting the concurrent validity of the scale. Conclusion By translating and validating GPTS-8 for the first time in Arabic, this study contributes to rendering the tool available to a broader array of clinicians and researchers who work with Arabic-speaking people. We believe the new Arabic version of the GPTS-8 will provide further encouragement to research and development in this yet-unexplored field among Arabic-speakers.