The Difficulties in Emotional Regulation among a Cohort of Females with Lipedema

Mohammad Al-Wardat (), Chantelle Clarke, Nuha Alwardat, Manal Kassab, Chiara Salimei, Paola Gualtieri, Marco Marchetti, Talitha Best and Laura Di Renzo
Additional contact information
Mohammad Al-Wardat: Department of Rehabilitation Sciences, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid P.O. Box 3030, Jordan
Chantelle Clarke: NeuroHealth Lab, Appleton Institute, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity Australia, Brisbane 4000, Australia
Nuha Alwardat: Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences, Jerash University, Jerash P.O. Box 311, Jordan
Manal Kassab: Department of Maternal and Child Health, Faculty of Nursing, Jordan University of Science and Technology, Irbid P.O. Box 3030, Jordan
Chiara Salimei: Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
Paola Gualtieri: Section of Clinical Nutrition and Nutrigenomic, Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
Marco Marchetti: Department of Clinical Sciences and Translational Medicine, University of Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy
Talitha Best: NeuroHealth Lab, Appleton Institute, School of Health, Medical and Applied Sciences, CQUniversity Australia, Brisbane 4000, Australia
Laura Di Renzo: Section of Clinical Nutrition and Nutrigenomic, Department of Biomedicine and Prevention, University of Tor Vergata, Via Montpellier 1, 00133 Rome, Italy

IJERPH, 2022, vol. 19, issue 20, 1-9

Abstract: Background: Lipedema is a chronic and progressive adipose tissue disorder that causes significant morbidity and negatively influences mental health and quality of life, and increases the risk of depression, anxiety, and eating disorders. One construct of relevance to better understanding psychological disorders is emotion regulation (ER). Therefore, the aim of this study is to investigate the difficulties in ER among lipedema patients compared to healthy people without lipedema. Methods: This cross-sectional study assessed differences in ER and anxiety between two groups: 26 female patients with lipedema and 26 sex- and age-matched healthy controls. The Difficulties in Emotion Regulation Scale (DERS) assessed emotional regulation across six dimensions: Impulse control, goal-directed behavior, awareness, clarity, non-acceptance, and strategies. Anxiety was assessed by the Hamilton Anxiety Scale (HAM-A). ANOVA assessed differences in measures between lipedema and healthy control groups. Results: Lipedema patients presented with significantly more difficulties in ER and a higher level of anxiety than those without lipedema. Specifically, the lipedema group showed higher and significant differences in total DERS and anxiety scores and all DERS subscales scores compared to those without lipedema. Conclusions: Lipedema patients showed significant difficulties with ER, and were associated with anxiety symptoms, indicating that ER difficulties may play a role in developing emotional disorders, such as anxiety, for patients with lipedema. The health care provider should pay more attention to ER difficulties and psychological status among lipedema patients.

Keywords: lipedema; emotion regulation; psychological disorders; anxiety; obesity (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: I I1 I3 Q Q5 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2022
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