Predicting the Warning Signs of Immunodeficiency through Sense of Humor and Explanatory Styles with the Mediating Role of the Locus of Control and Personality Type in Nurses

A topic that has attracted the attention of health–related scholars to the relationship between biopsychological factors and the development of medical illnesses. Moreover, health psychology researchers have investigated the relationship between the immune system activity and psychological indicators. This research aimed to predict the warning signs of immune deficiency through a sense of humor and explanatory styles with the mediation of the locus of control and personality type in nurses.

This correlational study aimed to forecast relationships between the study variables. It was performed among 281 nurses. The study subjects were selected through random sampling method; they completed Svebak’s Sense of Humor Questionnaire (1996), Scheier and Carver’s Attributional Style Questionnaire (ASQ) (1994), Rotterchr('39')s Locus of Control Scale (1996), Friedman and Rosenman’s Personality Type Questionnaire (1987), and Jeffrey Modell’s Warning Signs for Immunodeficiency Questionnaire (2009). The obtained data were analyzed by AMOS software through path analysis approach.

The current study results suggested that the proposed model had an appropriate fitness for x2/df, NFI, CFI, GFI, RMSEA indices. There was a significant and positive correlation between the explanatory style and locus of control in the investigated subjects (r=0.26, p≤0.001). Additionally, there was a significant and positive correlation between the explanatory style variables and the signs of immunodeficiency in the study subjects (r=0.53, p≤0.001). There was a significant and negative correlation between a sense of humor and the signs of immunodeficiency (r=–0.56, p≤0.001). The achieved results also revealed a significant and positive correlation between the sense of humor and personality type in the research subjects (p≤0.001, r=0.59). The current study findings signified a significant and positive association between personality type variables and the signs of immunodeficiency in the study subjects (p<0.001, r=0.57). Furthermore, the value of RMSEA was equal to 0.05, i.e., <0.1; accordingly, the mean square error of the model was appropriate and the model was acceptable. Additionally, the amount of x2 and the degree of freedom (1.80) ranged between 1 and 3, and the index of CFI and NFI was >0.9, indicating that the model was appropriate for measuring the research variables. Moreover, the study did not explain style path and the signs of immunodeficiency were not significantly different; however, the relationship between the locus of control and the signs of the immunodeficiency was significant and positive (p≤0.001). The standardized regression coefficient for the path of humor and signs of immunodeficiency was negative and significant (r= –0.56, p=0.001); the same for personality trait pathway and the warning signs of the immunodeficiency was positive and significant (r= –0.57, p≤0.001). Besides, the obtained results demonstrated that the overall indirect effect of the explanation style and personality type was significant on the symptoms of immunodeficiency with the multiple mediation of the locus of control (p≤0.001, R2=0.65). Additionally, the overall indirect effect of the sense of humor was significant on the signs of immunodeficiency with the mediation of multivariate locus of control and personality type (p≤0.001, R2=0.69).

These findings suggested that the immunodeficiency activity is affected by psychological indicators and personality traits. Thus, such findings could be promising to develop skills of training for individuals to implement them for the improvement of the function of the immunodeficiency system.