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.