The influence of posttraumatic stress on memory complaints in neuropsychological settings.

Memory problems are a frequent complaint in neuropsychological settings, particularly among individuals in mid-to-late adulthood and those who have experienced neurological insult (e.g., head trauma; Bay et al.

Life after Genocide: Mental Health, Education, and Social Support of Orphaned Survivors.

Thousands of orphaned survivors of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi were not only exposed to extraordinarily severe forms of violence, but also many of these children took on the responsibility of caring and providing for other child survivors. This study describes the poverty, educational attainment, social support and mental health of orphaned heads of household (OHH) fourteen years after the genocide, and analyzes how violence exposure during the genocide and post-genocide stressors contributed to symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and distress. Participants were 61 members of an OHH community organization who were interviewed in 2002 about their genocide experiences and who provided a follow-up assessment of post-genocide risk factors and PTSD and distress symptoms in 2008.

Narrative characteristics of genocide testimonies predict posttraumatic stress disorder symptoms years later.

Cognitive theories of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) suggest that trauma narratives that make greater use of somatosensory, perceptual, and negative emotion words may be indicators of greater risk of PTSD symptoms (Ehlers & Clark, 2000). The purpose of this study was to analyze whether the way that survivors of the 1994 Rwandan Genocide against the Tutsi naturally construct genocide testimonies predicts PTSD symptoms 6 years later. One hundred orphaned heads of household (OHH) who were members of a community association gave testimonies about their genocide experiences in 2002.

Intolerance of uncertainty, cognitive complaints, and cancer-related distress in prostate cancer survivors.

Objective: Prostate cancer survivors have reported cognitive complaints following treatment, and these difficulties may be associated with survivors' ongoing cancer-related distress. Intolerance of uncertainty may exacerbate this hypothesized relationship by predisposing individuals to approach uncertain situations such as cancer survivorship in an inflexible and negative manner. We investigated whether greater cognitive complaints and higher intolerance of uncertainty would interact in their relation to more cancer-related distress symptoms.

Characteristics of breast cancer survivors that predict partners' participation in research.

Background: Psycho-oncology couples' research frequently includes fewer than 50 % of those eligible.

Purpose: This research examined individual and relationship characteristics associated with recruitment and retention of breast cancer survivors' partners.

Methods: Investigators asked survivors from the Moving Beyond Cancer trial for permission to invite their partners to a parallel, longitudinal study.

Uncertainty and psychological adjustment in patients with lung cancer.

Background: For many patients with lung cancer, disease progression occurs without notice or with vague symptoms, and unfortunately, most treatments are not curative. Given this unpredictability, we hypothesized the following: (1) poorer psychological adjustment (specifically, more depressive symptoms, higher perceptions of stress, and poorer emotional well-being) would be associated with higher intolerance for uncertainty, higher perceived illness-related ambiguity, and their interaction; and (2) greater avoidance would mediate associations between higher intolerance of uncertainty and poorer psychological adjustment.

Methods: Participants (N = 49) diagnosed with lung cancer at least 6 months prior to enrollment completed the Center for Epidemiologic Studies - Depression Scale, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy - Lung Emotional Well-being subscale, the Perceived Stress scale, the Intolerance of Uncertainty scale, the Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale Ambiguity subscale, the Impact of Event - Revised Avoidance subscale, and the Short-scale Eysenck Personality Questionnaire - Revised Neuroticism subscale.

Body image predicts quality of life in men with prostate cancer.

Objective: Most men diagnosed with prostate cancer in the USA will survive. Of the many aspects of survivorship affected by prostate cancer, body image receives limited attention despite some indication that it may be important to men with the disease. The present study investigated how body image changes over time and the relations between changes in body image and quality of life (QOL) in men with prostate cancer.

A longitudinal examination of couples' coping strategies as predictors of adjustment to breast cancer.

This study's goals were to examine coping strategies of women and their male partners as predictors of change in women's adjustment over the year following breast cancer treatment and to test whether partners' coping processes interact to predict adjustment. In a sample of women who had recently completed breast cancer treatment and were taking part in a psychoeducational intervention trial, the patients' and partners' cancer-specific coping strategies were assessed at study entry (average of 10 months after diagnosis). Assessed at study entry and 20 months after diagnosis (n = 139 couples), dependent variables were women's general (i.

Psychosocial adjustment among low-income Latina cervical cancer patients.

Cancer-related coping strategies and social support, life stress, and optimism were tested in regression analyses as predictors of depression, affect, and quality of life among 54 low-income, immigrant Latina cervical cancer patients. Sixty-seven percent of the patients endorsed symptoms similar to diagnosable depression. Predictors significantly accounted for 35% to 54% of the variance in outcomes.

Long-term cognitive impairment in older adult twins discordant for gynecologic cancer treatment.

Background: Research has found that patients treated for cancer generally have an increased risk for cognitive problems. However, many studies have focused on cognitive performance of cancer patients under the age of 65 who received chemotherapy treatment. Less studied is the extent to which cancer diagnosis may be associated with cognitive impairment as a late effect for older adults.

Evidence against a link between hyperemesis gravidarum and personality characteristics from an ethnically diverse sample of pregnant women: a pilot study.

Background: Hyperemesis gravidarum (HG), a pregnancy-related condition marked by extreme nausea and vomiting, has been considered a psychosomatic illness associated with long-standing personality characteristics (e.g., hysteria).

Depression and sexual adjustment following breast cancer in low-income Hispanic and non-Hispanic White women.

Objective: Hispanics are the largest and fastest growing ethnic minority group in the United States and breast cancer is the most commonly diagnosed cancer in Hispanic women. However, Hispanics are underrepresented in the psychosocial breast cancer literature.

Methods: This study included 677 low-income women (425 Hispanic, 252 non-Hispanic White) enrolled in the Medi-Cal Breast and Cervical Cancer Treatment Program.

Addressing intimacy and partner communication after breast cancer: a randomized controlled group intervention.

While quality of life for most breast cancer survivors (BCS) returns to normal by 1 year post-treatment, problems in sexual function and intimacy often persist. The present study tested the efficacy of a 6-week psycho-educational group intervention in improving BCS's sexual well-being. We conducted a mailed survey of BCS 1-5 years post-diagnosis to identify a sample of women who reported moderately severe problems in body image, sexual function or partner communication, and were deemed eligible for the randomized intervention trial.

The psychological and emotional fallout of cancer and its treatment.

We review the literature on psychosocial and emotional adjustment for individuals who have survived cancer for at least 5 years and who have not experienced recurrences of the disease. Most long-term survivors experience low levels of distress and report overall emotional adjustment that is comparable with age-matched comparisons who never had a cancer diagnosis. However, survivors frequently have circumscribed areas of persistent difficulties, including fears of recurrence and psychological reactions to the physical dysfunction and disfigurement caused by some treatments.

Predictors of affect following treatment decision-making for prostate cancer: conversations, cognitive processing, and coping.

Objective: Research suggests that cancer patients who are more involved in treatment decision-making (TDM) report better quality of life following treatment. This study examines the association and possible mechanisms between prostate cancer patient's discussions about TDM and affect following treatment. We predicted that the length of time patients spent discussing treatment options with social networks and physicians prior to treatment would predict emotional adjustment after treatment.

Need for cognition and psychosocial adjustment in prostate cancer patients and partners.

Individual differences in cognitive style, specifically need for cognition (NFC), may play an important role in facilitating communication and psychosocial adjustment to cancer during the presurgical period, a time marked by distress and the need to process disease-related information. This study examines the relations between NFC, adjustment, and communication in 106 prostate cancer patients and their partners within 2 weeks prior to radical prostatectomy. High NFC was significantly associated with better psychological adjustment for partners only, whereas for patients, communication with the medical team played a more important role.

Fatigue in long-term breast carcinoma survivors: a longitudinal investigation.

Background: A longitudinal study was designed to evaluate the prevalence, persistence, and predictors of posttreatment fatigue in breast carcinoma survivors.

Methods: A sample of 763 breast carcinoma survivors completed questionnaires at 1-5 and 5-10 years after diagnosis, including the RAND 36-item Health Survey, Center for Epidemiological Studies - Depression scale (CES-D), Breast Cancer Prevention Trial Symptom Checklist, and demographic and treatment-related measures.

Results: Approximately 34% of study participants reported significant fatigue at 5-10 years after diagnosis, which is consistent with prevalence estimates obtained at 1-5 years after diagnosis.

Promoting adjustment after treatment for cancer.

The transition from the period of diagnosis and medical treatment of cancer to survivorship (i.e., the reentry phase) is an understudied phase in the cancer trajectory.

Outcomes from the Moving Beyond Cancer psychoeducational, randomized, controlled trial with breast cancer patients.

Purpose: Evidence suggests that the re-entry phase (ie, early period after medical treatment completion) presents distinct challenges for cancer patients. To facilitate the transition to recovery, we conducted the Moving Beyond Cancer (MBC) trial, a multisite, randomized, controlled trial of psychoeducational interventions for breast cancer patients.

Methods: Breast cancer patients were registered within 6 weeks after surgery.

Perceptions of positive meaning and vulnerability following breast cancer: predictors and outcomes among long-term breast cancer survivors.

Background: Survival rates for women with early-stage breast cancer have increased significantly in recent years. However, little is known about the long-term impact of the cancer experience on women's psychological functioning. Theoretical and descriptive accounts suggest that cancer may evoke both perceptions of vulnerability and positive meaning, with potentially different effects on mental health.

Cancer as a risk factor for long-term cognitive deficits and dementia.

Previous studies have shown that cancer survivors frequently experience short-term cognitive deficits, but it is unknown how long these deficits last or whether they worsen over time. Using a co-twin control design, the cognitive function of 702 cancer survivors aged 65 years and older was compared with that of their cancer-free twins. Dementia rates were also compared in 486 of the twin pairs discordant for cancer.

Quality of life of breast cancer survivors after a recurrence: a follow-up study.

Previous studies on breast cancer recurrence provide a mixed picture of the quality of life of women following a recurrence. To clarify the picture, the present study addresses some previous methodological concerns by offering a multidimensional assessment with follow-up, a matched comparison group of disease-free survivors, and a closer look at the nature of recurrence (local versus metastatic). Fifty-Four of 817 women who participated in an earlier study experienced a recurrence at follow-up, and are compared to a matched sample of 54 women who remained disease-free.

Health-related quality of life in a multiethnic sample of breast cancer survivors.

Background: Little is known about the experiences of women from varying ethnic groups following treatment for breast cancer.

Purpose: This study provides a comprehensive description of health-related quality of life (HRQL) and identifies problem areas and predictive factors for a multiethnic sample.

Methods: Six hundred twenty-one breast cancer survivors from 2 major cities participated within 5 years of their diagnosis.

The future of health psychology interventions.

Progress in health psychology interventions was reviewed to manage chronic illness, treat psychophysiological disorders, and provide complementary treatment for difficult medical symptoms. A closer synergy between research, clinical applications and public policy, and education and training was advocated to guide future work in these areas. Further, the importance of clinical input informing research directions, the need for interventions to focus on a broader range of individual difference and contextual factors, and for effectiveness studies to influence the adoption of treatments in clinical settings was emphasized.