Different developmental experiences related to deep-rooted beliefs about oneself and others may significantly affect individual social emotional competencies, such as the accuracy of facial emotion recognition and detection. This study presents a preliminary examination of the relationship between early maladaptive schemas (EMSs) and the accuracy of recognizing facial expressions showing basic emotions, neutral faces, and discrimination between neutral and emotional faces. The sample consisted of 138 psychology students (M = 20.33; SD = 1.33, 27 of the respondents were male). JACFEE and JACNeuF (Matsumoto & Ekman, 1988) were used as stimulus material for assessing the facial emotion recognition of seven basic emotions (anger, contempt, disgust, fear, sadness, happiness, and surprise) and neutral faces. The Young Schema Questionnaire – Short Form 3 (YSQ-S3; Young, 2005) was administered as a measure of EMSs. The findings demonstrate that all schema domains affect the accuracy of recognizing facial expressions showing negative emotions (anger, contempt, disgust, fear, and sadness). The Dependence/Incompetence, Entitlement/Grandiosity schemas were significant predictors for detecting neutral faces and discriminating between faces with and without emotion, while the Abandonment/Instability schema additionally proved significant for recognizing neutral faces. Limitations and suggestions for future elaboration are acknowledged.

"Studies have shown that women facing infertility and undergoing the IVF process generally belong to the mentally healthy group of the population. However, their stress level and emotional reactions vary significantly. Besides, there are women who report higher anxiety and/or depression levels up to six months after an (unsuccessful) IVF process. The aim of this study is to determine the perception of the infertility experience and the functioning of domains particularly affected by overcoming infertility through IVF. Fourteen women were excluded from the study sample due to their secondary infertility: 9 women had already had a child conceived though IVF and 5 had conceived naturally – these respondents have a successful experience of overcoming infertility, as they do not face the possibility of remaining involuntarily childless. The final sample was comprised of 149 women, 23 to 45 years of age (M=35,50, SD=4,48). For 83,9% of the women, the ongoing IVF procedure was the first (38,3), the second (25,5) or the third (20,1) attempt, while the rest of respondents were going though IVF for the fourth to the eighth time. Infertility is considered the worst experience of their life by 67,8% of the respondents. 95,3% of the respondents in the study want psychological counseling, which is not an integral part of the IVF process in Serbia and thus not covered by the national health insurance. The “Fertility quality of Life” (FertiQoL; Boivin, Takefman and Braverman, 2011) Questionnaire was used for the assessment of quality of life. A one sample t-test shows statistically significant differences in experiencing difficulties in the observed domains. The respondents have the lowest scores on the Emotional subscale, meaning that the most pronounced feature is the impact of negative emotions (e.g., jealousy and resentment, sadness, depression) on quality of life. The score on the Social subscale is highest, which means that social interactions have not significantly been affected by fertility problems. In conclusion, the infertility experience is highly stressful for a significant number of women and they are in need of psychological support, especially for overcoming negative emotions. This can be done by defining a new way of life filled with contentment, one that is in accordance with their value systems, despite their experience of infertility."

Infertility is a medical problem, but it can have significant consequences for mental health. Emotional problems caused by infertility are very common, so infertility can be called a life crisis. Therefore, it is very important to identify protective and risk factors that would determine the psychological adjustment to infertility. The aim of this study was to examine the differences in perceived social support, relationship satisfaction, and positive and negative affect between women undergoing IVF treatment and women who do not have fertility problems. The research also aims to examine whether perceived social support and relationship satisfaction were significant predictors of positive and negative affect in both groups. The study included 292 women – 163 who were undergoing the IVF treatment at the time of assessment and 129 without fertility problems who made up the control group. The following instruments were applied: the Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support, the Relationship Satisfaction Scale, and the Serbian Inventory of Affect based on PANAS. The results show statistically significant differences between the examined groups in the level of negative affect, which is more pronounced in the group of women undergoing IVF treatment. Regarding positive affect, there is a trend of a more frequent experience of positive emotions in the women from the control group. Perceived social support and relationship satisfaction are significant predictors of both positive and negative affect for the women undergoing IVF treatment. As for the control group, the results of the regression analysis show that perceived social support and relationship satisfaction are significant predictors of negative affect, while in the case of positive affect, relationship satisfaction stands out as a significant predictor. The results indicate that perceived social support and relationship satisfaction can be important protective factors when it comes to psychological adjustment to infertility, which can serve as a guideline for mental health professionals who work with infertile couples.

Conception with donated oocytes represents an important option for overcoming sterility, but brings with it numerous dilemmas, which have been dealt with differently in various European countries. In the Republic of Serbia, anonymous oocyte donation is legal, and donors include women from the general population, and women undergoing IVF. This is a new phenomenon in our society, for which the law requires promotion. In order for the campaign to be appropriate, it is necessary to learn about existing attitudes. This research was carried out with the aim of determining the attitudes of students towards egg donation (N = 503; 206 young men, 297 young women). A questionnaire was used, designed based on the scale used by Swedish authors to study the attitudes of potential donors (Skoog-Svanberg, Lampic, Bergh, & Lundkvist, 2003). The obtained results indicate that there are generally positive attitudes towards oocyte donation, but that most respondents are reserved regarding the issue of propagating donors in the media. Most of the respondents are unsure regarding donation from IVF, and when asked about donor anonymity and the right of the child to learn its genetic origin, they showed signs of oscillating and supporting contradictory options. Even though this study was carried out on a student population, it is possible to identify significant guidelines for the start of the promotion of voluntary egg donation in RS, as well as implications for future research.

The Type A Behavior Pattern (TABP) and Type D personality (Type D) are constructs primarily related to cardiac patients as they may contribute to the onset, course, and outcome of cardiovascular diseases, but their association with other adverse health outcomes is also noticeable. The aim of this study was to examine the interrelationship between TABP and Type D, as well as their predictive role for general proneness to psychosomatic manifestations. A cross-sectional, correlational study was conducted among 212 healthy volunteers. The correlation analyses showed that there was an association between Impatience-Irritability and Negative affectivity (r = .191**) as components of TABP and Type D, respectively. Furthermore, it was found that both TABP and Type D have a significant percentage of the cumulative variance in the proneness to psychosomatic manifestations, with Type D proving to be a stronger predictor than TABP. Impatience-Irritability (β = .17**), Negative affectivity (β = .56***), and Social inhibition (β =.17**) were distinguished as significant predictors for suggesting an association between negative emotions as components of these constructs and psychosomatic manifestations.