Screening and identification of depression among patients with coronary heart disease and congestive heart failure.

Depression occurring concurrently with cardiovascular diseases is associated with poor outcomes. Several review articles have examined the link between established indices of depression and prognosis in individuals with known coronary heart disease (CHD). These studies have demonstrated relatively consistent results and suggest an important connection between cardiovascular morbidity and mortality in patients with depressive symptoms or major depression.

Psychologic intervention improves survival for breast cancer patients: a randomized clinical trial.

Background: The question of whether stress poses a risk for cancer progression has been difficult to answer. A randomized clinical trial tested the hypothesis that cancer patients coping with their recent diagnosis but receiving a psychologic intervention would have improved survival compared with patients who were only assessed.

Methods: A total of 227 patients who were surgically treated for regional breast cancer participated.

PTSD diagnoses, subsyndromal symptoms, and comorbidities contribute to impairments for breast cancer survivors.

The clinical importance of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptomatology for cancer patients is unclear. The association between the magnitude of cancer-related PTSD symptoms, comorbidity, and functioning is tested. Breast cancer patients (N = 74) were assessed at diagnosis/surgery, followed, and screened for cancer-related PTSD 18 months later.

RCT of a psychological intervention for patients with cancer: I. mechanisms of change.

Little is known about the therapeutic processes contributing to efficacy of psychological interventions for patients with cancer. Data from a randomized clinical trial yielding robust biobehavioral and health effects (B. L.

Strategies used in coping with a cancer diagnosis predict meaning in life for survivors.

The search for meaning in life is part of the human experience. A negative life event may threaten perceptions about meaning in life, such as the benevolence of the world and one's sense of harmony and peace. The authors examined the longitudinal relationship between women's coping with a diagnosis of breast cancer and their self-reported meaning in life 2 years later.

Mismatch of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) symptoms and DSM-IV symptom clusters in a cancer sample: exploratory factor analysis of the PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version.

The Diagnostic and Statistical Manual of Mental Disorders, Fourth Edition (DSM-IV; American Psychiatric Association, 1994a) conceptualization of posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) includes three symptom clusters: reexperiencing, avoidance/numbing, and arousal. The PTSD Checklist-Civilian Version (PCL-C) corresponds to the DSM-IV PTSD symptoms. In the current study, we conducted exploratory factor analysis (EFA) of the PCL-C with two aims: (a) to examine whether the PCL-C evidenced the three-factor solution implied by the DSM-IV symptom clusters, and (b) to identify a factor solution for the PCL-C in a cancer sample.

Traumatic stress, perceived global stress, and life events: prospectively predicting quality of life in breast cancer patients.

The authors investigated the relationship between stress at initial cancer diagnosis and treatment and subsequent quality of life (QoL). Women (n = 112) randomized to the assessment-only arm of a clinical trial were initially assessed after breast cancer diagnosis and surgery and then reassessed at 4 months (during adjuvant treatment) and 12 months (postadjuvant treatment). There were 3 types of stress measured: number of stressful life events (K.

Assessing stress in cancer patients: a second-order factor analysis model for the Perceived Stress Scale.

Using the Perceived Stress Scale (PSS), perceptions of global stress were assessed in 111 women following breast cancer surgery and at 12 and 24 months later This is the first study to factor analyze the PSS. The PSS data were factor analyzed each time using exploratory factor analysis with oblique direct quartimin rotation. Goodness-of-fit indices (root mean square error of approximation [RMSEA]), magnitude and pattern of factor loadings, and confidence interval data revealed a two-factor solution of positive versus negative stress items.

Psychological, behavioral, and immune changes after a psychological intervention: a clinical trial.

Purpose: This randomized clinical trial tests the hypothesis that a psychological intervention can reduce emotional distress, improve health behaviors and dose-intensity, and enhance immune responses.

Patients And Methods: We studied 227 women who were surgically treated for regional breast cancer. Before adjuvant therapy, women completed interviews and questionnaires assessing emotional distress, social adjustment, and health behaviors.

The gynecologic oncology consult: symptom presentation and concurrent symptoms of depression and anxiety.

Objective: To detail the relationship of gynecologic symptoms and sociodemographic variables to depression and anxiety reports among women who were referred to gynecologic oncologists for evaluation.

Methods: Consecutive patients (N = 151) from an National Cancer Institute-designated comprehensive cancer center were accrued and participated on the day of consultation. Patients completed measures assessing depression (Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) and anxiety (Beck Anxiety Inventory) symptoms, common gynecologic signs/symptoms, and sociodemographic characteristics.

Depressive symptoms after breast cancer surgery: relationships with global, cancer-related, and life event stress.

For women with breast cancer, rates of depression are the third highest of any cancer diagnostic group. Stress, defined as life events or perceptions of stress, is associated with depressive symptoms. However, little is known about the relationships between different types of stress and these symptoms in women with breast cancer.