*2.2. Assessments*

The study used a diagnostic survey with questionnaires. Research instruments included the Generalized Self-Efficacy Scale (GSES), the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), the Acceptance of Illness Scale (AIS), and an own sociodemographic questionnaire to collect data on respondents' characteristics (age, residence, marital status, education, professional activity, socio-economic standing—self-reported, having children, BMI—collected from respondents' medical records, time from PCOS diagnosis).

The GSES was developed by Schwarzer and Jerusalem, and adapted for Polish settings by Juczy ´nski. It measures an individual's sense of generalized self-efficacy in difficult situations. The scale comprises 10 statements, which are scored by the respondent as follows: 1—not true at all, 2—hardly true, 3—moderately true, 4—exactly true. The total score ranges between 10 and 40 points, representing a person's level of self-efficacy. Higher scores indicate a stronger sense of self-efficacy. Scores should be interpreted using sten ranges, with scores of sten 1–4 considered low, and sten 7–10 considered high. The scale has good psychometric properties, with a Cronbach's α of 0.85 [14].

The LOT-R was authored by Scheier, Carver, and Bridges, and adapted for Polish settings by Poprawa and Juczy ´nski. It measures dispositional optimism based on 10 statements rated 0–4, where 0 stands for "I disagree a lot", while 4 stands for "I agree a lot". Total score ranges between 0 and 24 points, with higher scores denoting more optimism. The raw score is converted into sten results, with scores of sten 1–4 considered low, i.e., indicating pessimistic tendencies, while sten 7–10 scores are considered high, i.e., indicating an optimistic attitude. The reliability of the LOT-R as measured by Cronbach's α is 0.76 [15].

The AIS was developed by Felton et al., and adapted for Polish settings by Juczy ´nski. It allows for measuring illness acceptance in adults, using 8 statements concerning the negative consequences of poor health, rated by the respondents using a 5-item scale, with 1 standing for "strongly agree", and 5 for "strongly disagree". The total, between 8 and 40 points, is a measure of illness acceptance. Low scores indicate a lack of acceptance, poor adaptation to the illness, and significant emotional problems associated with the illness, while high scores indicate a respondent's acceptance of their condition. Internal consistency as measured by Cronbach's α is 0.85 for the original version of the AIS, and very similar for the Polish version, with an α of 0.82 [16].
