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This study examined mental adjustment to breast cancer, that is, coping strategies. Participants were 130 women undergoing breast cancer treatment in two medical settings in Accra, Ghana. They completed questionnaires assessing mental adjustment to cancer, psychological distress (anxiety and depression), negative religious coping, body change stress, and illness perceptions. Data were analyzed using hierarchical linear regression. Results showed that patients who reported higher depression were more likely to engage in anxious preoccupation (worry and thinking about breast cancer). Higher depression was associated with a greater sense of helplessness/hopelessness. Moreover, patients higher in negative religious coping were more likely to experience a greater sense of helplessness/hopelessness. Illness perception facets of personal control and emotional response were positively associated with fatalism and anxious preoccupation, respectively. The results suggest that screening breast cancer patients for psychological morbidity could help identify patients with increased risks for maladaptive adjustment to the disease. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Acculturation, a cultural and psychological process, can cause stress for international students studying in Ghanaian universities. This paper examined the challenges faced by these students, highlighting the many obstacles they face on campus and throughout the country, and the social support systems available to them. Using the interpretative phenomenological approach (IPA), rooted in acculturative stress concepts this paper found that international students often find life challenging and frustrating, regardless of their continent of origin. The paper revealed that university administrators and faculties do not adequately support international students, and self-efficacy is insufficient in coping with acculturative stress. Financial concerns, being unrealistically perceived as affluent, abrupt academic schedule changes, weather conditions, and frequent marriage proposals were significant sources of stress. This paper observed that international students in Ghana enjoy immediate and long-term advantages such as bilingualism, cultural awareness, intercultural understanding, high-status recognition, and easier employment in their home countries. The paper concludes that international students often struggle to adjust to Ghana's new sociocultural and academic environment albeit there are some advantages. The findings of this study can help offices of international student affairs and student exchange organizations on university campuses in Ghana, thus, providing tailored counselling services to students in vulnerable groups. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study explored the lived experiences of employed mothers returning to work after maternity leave in the Ghanaian context. Using a qualitative research approach, in-depth interviews were conducted with 21 employed postpartum mothers who had returned to work within one year after birth. Using reflexive thematic analysis, four themes were generated that speak to mothers’ experiences of returning to work after maternity leave: setting the stage for work return, embracing the emotions of work return, re-adapting to the workplace, and impact on personal and family health. Mothers’ return to work after maternity leave was preceded by extensive physical and psychological preparations including childcare arrangements that enhanced their readiness for paid work. Despite such preparations, most mothers experienced their return to work as emotionally challenging marked by feelings of sadness, guilt, and frustration. Childbirth and return to work also negatively impacted mothers’ work performance as well as their personal and family wellbeing. Moreover, combining the increased responsibilities associated with childbirth and work demands emerged as a major source of stress for postpartum mothers. These findings underscore the need for policies, organisational practices, and comprehensive support structures that facilitate mothers’ return to work after maternity leave. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]