Psychological Distress in Hospitalized Patients Awaiting Organ Transplantation: Case Examples, Thematic Exploration, and Suggestions for Intervention.

Organ transplantation is a life-saving mechanism with a large public health burden given the necessity of individuals to donate their organs in the event of their own death. Understanding the psychological and medical sequelae of individuals receiving an organ transplant is invaluable in a successful transplant. The waiting period for transplantation is the most psychologically difficult period, and is an important window during which to intervene psychologically and medically.

The father-daughter relationship in the wake of maternal death from breast cancer.

Objectives: This paper examines whether a relationship exists between paternal psychological stability and daughters' symptomatology following the death of a wife/mother from breast cancer. Specifically, is there a relationship between paternal parenting style and the daughters' subsequent capacity to form committed relationships later in life?

Methods: We assessed 68 adult daughters (average age = 23.5 years) since the mother's breast cancer diagnosis by means of a semistructured clinical interview and psychological testing.

Psychosocial Characteristics of Adult Daughters of Breast Cancer Patients: Comparison of Clinic and Community Caregivers Samples.

Objective: The long-term psychosocial impact of adult daughters caring for their mothers with breast cancer has been recognized but understudied. The objectives of this study were to characterize the psychosocial functioning of women who served as informal caregivers during their mothers. treatment for breast cancer in two distinct samples, community and high risk clinic, and to determine differences in psychosocial functioning between the two samples.

Predicting reattendance at a high-risk breast cancer clinic.

Objective: The research about follow-up patterns of women attending high-risk breast-cancer clinics is sparse. This study sought to profile daughters of breast-cancer patients who are likely to return versus those unlikely to return for follow-up care in a high-risk clinic.

Method: Our investigation included 131 patients attending the UCLA Revlon Breast Center High Risk Clinic.

Evolution of Emotional Symptoms Over Time Among Daughters of Patients With Breast Cancer.

Objective: This study longitudinally profiled anxiety and depressive symptoms of daughters of patients with breast cancer and examined the mother׳s survival status, the daughter׳s age at the time of mother׳s diagnosis, and the style of family communication about breast cancer as moderators of change in symptomatology across participants׳ first 3 appointments at the University of California, Los Angeles Revlon Breast Center High Risk Clinic.

Methods: We evaluated the effects of hypothesized predictors on change in anxiety and depressive symptoms, 3 (symptomatology at first, second, and third clinic visits) × 2 (mother survived or died) × 2 (<20 or ≥20y old at diagnosis) × 2 (open or closed family communication) repeated-measures analyses of variance were employed.

Results: There was a main effect for time of diagnosis on state anxiety, demonstrating a significant reduction in anxiety across clinic visits overall (p < 0.

A retrospective study predicting psychological vulnerability in adult daughters of breast cancer patients.

This study was an attempt to identify vulnerability factors in two cohorts of daughters of breast cancer patients. One cohort consisted of daughters whose mothers survived breast cancer and the other consisted of daughters whose mothers died from breast cancer. The results revealed significant main effects.

Diurnal cortisol in Complicated and Non-Complicated Grief: slope differences across the day.

Although grief has been described primarily as a psychological phenomenon, empirical evidence reveals that grief also has physiological correlates that have consequences for health. The present study investigates the diurnal cortisol production patterns in women who have been bereaved in the past 18 months. Specifically, the study compares women with Complicated Grief (n=12) from those with Non-Complicated Grief (n=12), testing whether cortisol slope distinguishes the two groups.

In the midnight hour: Cancer and nightmares. A review of theories and interventions in psycho-oncology.

Objectives: The purposes of this study were: (1) to explore cancer patients' complaints of poor sleep, which often involve a combination of somatic symptoms and nightmares; and (2) to understand these sleep disturbances in the light of modern dream theories and intervention modalities.

Method: The literature search originated with several major articles (Revonsuo, 2000; Krakow & Zadra, 2006; Hobson, 2009) which then opened up the search through their references. We also used the database PubMed, and employed the following key words: cancer, nightmares/dreams, sleep disturbances, and dream theory.

The special case of complicated grief in women at high risk for breast cancer.

Objective: Exploration of complicated grief focusing on the relationship of post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and complicated grief in a population of women at high risk for developing breast cancer. Special reference is made to women who have experienced a material death.

Method: We reflected on the clinical attributes of the Revlon UCLA High Risk Clinic population in terms of their own perceived risk of developing breast cancer.

When grief heats up: pro-inflammatory cytokines predict regional brain activation.

Background: Pro-inflammatory cytokines are associated with sickness behaviors, a set of behaviors including low mood, which are orchestrated by the brain and described as shift in motivational state. The present study investigated the hypothesis that local inflammation is associated with greater subgenual anterior cingulate cortex (sACC) activation in persons undergoing chronic stress.

Methods: Women undergoing the emotional stress of bereavement had fMRI scans during a grief elicitation task.

Family caregivers and guilt in the context of cancer care.

Background: Guilt as a key emotional phenomenon in the cancer-caregiving experience is an understudied issue.

Objective: The purpose of this study is to identify demographic characteristics of cancer caregivers and care-related stress factors that are associated with their feelings of caregiver guilt, as well as to explore the effect of caregiver guilt on their adjustment outcomes.

Method: A total of 739 caregivers of cancer survivors completed a survey (66.

Craving love? Enduring grief activates brain's reward center.

Complicated Grief (CG) occurs when an individual experiences prolonged, unabated grief. The neural mechanisms distinguishing CG from Noncomplicated Grief (NCG) are unclear, but hypothesized mechanisms include both pain-related activity (related to the social pain of loss) and reward-related activity (related to attachment behavior). Bereaved women (11 CG, 12 NCG) participated in an event-related functional magnetic resonance imaging scan, during grief elicitation with idiographic stimuli.

Quality of life of couples dealing with cancer: dyadic and individual adjustment among breast and prostate cancer survivors and their spousal caregivers.

Background And Purpose: Although evidence suggests that survivors and spousal caregivers tend to experience somewhat similar levels of distress and that the survivor's distress affects his/her own quality of life, the degree to which each person's distress has an independent effect on their partner's quality of life is unknown. Thus, this study aimed to examine the dyadic effects of psychological distress on the quality of life of couples dealing with cancer.

Methods: A total of 168 married survivor-caregiver dyads participating in the American Cancer Society's Study of Cancer Survivors-I and Quality of Life Survey for Caregivers provided complete data for study variables.

Effects of psychological distress on quality of life of adult daughters and their mothers with cancer.

Introduction: As the population continues to age, adult daughters are more likely to be involved in caregiving. Given the fact that sharing emotional experiences is common in female relationships, (dis)similarity between mothers with cancer and their adult caregiving daughters is expected. However, the extent to which the (dis)similarity in psychological distress influences the quality of life of each person remains unknown.

Psychological distress of female cancer caregivers: effects of type of cancer and caregivers' spirituality.

Introduction: This study examined the effects of the survivor's cancer type (gender-specific vs nongender-specific) and the female caregiver's spirituality and caregiving stress on the caregiver's psychological distress. Cancer caregivers, who were nominated by cancer survivors, participated in a nationwide quality-of-life survey with 252 caregivers providing complete data for the variables.

Patients And Methods: Breast and ovarian cancer were categorized as gender-specific types of cancer (GTC+), whereas kidney, lung, non-Hodgkin's lymphoma (NHL), and skin melanoma cancers were GTC-.

Gender differences in caregiving stress among caregivers of cancer survivors.

Despite a growing body of research on male caregivers, limited information is available on male caregivers of cancer survivors. Furthermore, few studies have examined the unique contribution of caregiver esteem as well as care-recipient's functional status as potential mediators of the link between gender and caregiving stress. Thus, the present study examines how the caregiver's perception of providing care to a spouse with cancer differs by gender.

Psychological adjustment of cancer caregivers with multiple roles.

Guided by the role strain and the role enhancement theories, this study examined the effect of caregivers' multiple roles, such as being employed and taking care of minors in their household, on their psychological adjustment. Of the caregivers who completed the American Cancer Society's Quality of Life Survey for Caregivers, 457 caregivers who were middle-aged (18-64) and provided complete data for the study variables were included in the analyses. The indicators of the outcome variables, namely, the levels of the caregivers' psychological adjustment, were cancer caregiving stress, management of meaning out of providing care, and negative and positive affect.

Psychosocial impacts of a camping experience for children with cancer and their siblings.

Background: We conducted a prospective two-group evaluation of pediatric cancer patients and their siblings regarding experiences and affective changes resulting from a 1-week summer camp experience.

Methods: The patients and siblings were assessed prior to camp (Baseline), at the end of camp (Follow-up 1), and again 4-6 months later (Follow-up 2). Assessments included standardized tests for depressive affects, social competency, and a measure of pleasure and participation in camp activities.

Breast core-needle biopsy: clinical trial of relaxation technique versus medication versus no intervention for anxiety reduction.

Purpose: To evaluate effectiveness of oral anxiolytic medication versus relaxation technique for anxiety reduction in women undergoing breast core-needle biopsy (CNB).

Materials And Methods: The institutional review board reviewed and approved the study. Informed consent was obtained from 143 consecutive women scheduled for breast CNB.

Prediction of neurocognitive outcome in adult brain tumor patients.

Purpose: To determine the relative contributions of patient, disease and therapy specific factors on neurocognitive outcome of brain tumor patients.

Patients And Methods: Seventy-nine patients (mean age = 41.1 years; range: 17-75 years; 54% male, 46% female) with glioblastoma multiforme (37%), anaplastic astrocytoma (17%), low grade astrocytoma (13%), and oligodendroglioma (10%) predominantly in the frontal regions (45%) were evaluated in an outpatient neuro-oncology clinic.

Identification of traumatic stress reactions in women at increased risk for breast cancer.

It has been shown that the diagnosis and treatment of cancer may constitute a traumatic event that generates in patients and some of their family members traumatic reactions that are consistent with the symptom profile of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD). The present study was conducted to establish the degree to which women at increased familial risk for breast cancer showed such traumatic reactions and to establish which demographic or psychological variables may contribute to the experience of such traumatic reactions in at-risk individuals. Seventy-three women from the Revlon UCLA Breast Center High Risk Clinic were assessed for traumatic reactions that might be consistent with the DSM-IV criteria for PTSD.

Breast cancer patients' perceptions of their husbands' support in a cross-cultural context.

In light of the Western focus in the breast cancer literature on spouse support, this study attempted to investigate ethnic differences in their perceptions of the support provided by their spouses. Forty-six women who had had breast cancer 6 months to 3 years prior participated in this study. These women were selected from three ethnic groups (13 Euro-American (EA) women, 18 Chinese-American women and 15 Japanese-American women).

Predicting major depression in brain tumor patients.

Very few studies have been performed utilizing DSM criteria to diagnose major depressive disorder (MDD) in adult brain tumor patients. This study aimed to diagnose MDD in this population using DSM-IV criteria.Eighty-nine adult brain tumor patients were examined in an ambulatory neuro-oncology clinic setting using a structured psychiatric interview which followed current DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for MDD.