Background The Multidimensional Adolescent Functioning Scale (MAFS) is a 23-item, self-report questionnaire assessing psychosocial functioning in adolescents aged 12–17 years. It captures three domains of functioning: ‘general functioning’, ‘family-related functioning’, and ‘peer-related functioning’. The original English version has good psychometric properties. The aim of the current paper was to translate the MAFS to Dutch and to investigate the psychometric properties of this translation. Methods After translation, the Dutch MAFS was assessed in 397 adolescents aged 12–17 years, assessed at schools. Internal consistency, factor structure and correlations with other questionnaires assessing functioning, psychopathology and well-being were investigated. Results A hierarchical/bifactor model with a general factor that loads on all items (MAFS-general) and three group factors, loading respectively on the GF, FF and PF items, was found to describe the data best. Internal consistency of the MAFS total score (α = 0.87) was good and of the subscales (α = 0.74–0.80) acceptable. Comparable alphas were found in males and females. Correlations between MAFS subscales ranged from 0.33 to 0.43, indicating sufficient differentiation. The MAFS general factor score and group factor scores showed positive correlations with other measures of good functioning and well-being, and negative correlations with measures of psychopathology, supporting convergent and divergent validity. Conclusions The Dutch translation of the MAFS has adequate psychometric properties to assess three domains of functioning in adolescents from the general population aged 12–17 years. The MAFS is freely accessible in the Appendix and easy to administer.

DNA-sensing receptor Cyclic GMP-AMP Synthase (cGAS) and its downstream signaling effector STimulator of INterferon Genes (STING) have gained significant interest in the field of tumor immunology, as a dysfunctional cGAS-STING pathway is associated with poor prognosis and worse response to immunotherapy. However, studies so far have not taken into account the polymorphic nature of the STING-encoding STING1 gene. We hypothesized that the presence of allelic variance in STING1 would cause variation between individuals as to their susceptibility to cancer development, cancer progression, and potential response to (immuno)therapy. To start to address this, we defined the genetic landscapes of STING1 in cervical scrapings and investigated their corresponding clinical characteristics across a unique cohort of cervical cancer patients and compared them with independent control cohorts. Although we did not observe an enrichment of particular STING1 allelic variants in cervical cancer patients, we did find that the occurrence of homozygous variants HAQ/HAQ and R232H/R232H of STING1 were associated with both younger age of diagnosis and higher recurrence rate. These findings were accompanied by worse survival, despite comparable mRNA and protein levels of STING and numbers of infiltrated CD8 + T cells. Our findings suggest that patients with HAQ/HAQ and R232H/R232H genotypes may have a dysfunctional cGAS-STING pathway that fails to promote efficient anticancer immunity. Interestingly, the occurrence of these genotypes coincided with homozygous presence of the V48V variant, which was found to be individually associated with worse outcome. Therefore, we propose V48V to be further evaluated as a novel prognostic marker for cervical cancer.

Background: Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) is effective for relapse prevention in major depressive disorder (MDD). It reduces cognitive reactivity (CR) and rumination, and enhances self-compassion and mindfulness. Although rumination and mindfulness after MBCT are associated with relapse, the association of CR, rumination, self-compassion, and mindfulness with relapse before initiation of MBCT has never been investigated.

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