Characteristics of Mental Health Profiles and Differences in
Emotion Regulation Strategy and Social Support
Table 2 compares mental health (well-being, body-image satisfaction,
anxiety, and depressive symptoms) and emotion regulation strategies
across the identified three profiles
(Symptomatic but Content,
Complete Mental Health, and Troubled). Pairwise post hoc comparisons
revealed significant differences in anxiety, depression, body image
distress, and subjective well-being among all the assessed profiles. The
differences across the three profiles on mental health were also
displayed with standardized
scores (Z scores) in Figure 1.
Among the three profiles, the PCOS women in the Symptomatic but Content
profile showed relatively
moderate anxiety and depressive
symptoms and comparatively content of subjective well-being. The mental
health in the Complete Mental Health profile displayed the highest
levels of subjective well-being and lowest levels of anxiety, depressive
symptoms, and body image distress. By contrast,
PCOS women in the Troubled
profile demonstrated the highest level of anxiety, depressive symptoms,
and body image distress, as well as the lowest level of subjective
well-being. Among the body image satisfaction score, post-hoc
statistical analysis showed no significant difference between the
Symptomatic but Content profile and Troubled profile.
In addition, we examined the differences in emotion regulation
strategies and social support across three latent mental health
profiles. Overall, there were significant differences among the three
profiles in cognitive reappraisal, expression suppression, and social
support. As shown in table 2, PCOS women in the Complete Mental Health
profile reported the highest cognitive reappraisal and social support
scores and the lowest expressive
suppression scores. That is, PCOS women in this profile, with the best
social support, used more cognitive reappraisal and less expressive
suppression to regulate emotions. By contrast,
the PCOS women in the Troubled
profile demonstrated the highest expressive suppression scores and the
lowest cognitive reappraisal
scores and social support scores. PCOS women in this profile earned the
worst social support and used more expressive suppression and less
cognitive reappraisal to regulate emotions. Finally, the PCOS patients
in the Symptomatic but Content profile displayed moderate expressive
suppression scores, cognitive reappraisal scores, and social support
scores.