Psychological predictors of chemotherapy-induced nausea in women with breast cancer: Expectancies and perceived susceptibility.

Objective: Chemotherapy-induced nausea is challenging to predict and treat. Research indicates that pretreatment psychological variables including patients' perceptions of their susceptibility to nausea, expectancies of treatment-related nausea and nausea history (i.e.

'Measuring up': A comparison of two response expectancy assessment formats completed by men treated with radiotherapy for prostate cancer.

Objective: Response expectancies of cancer treatment toxicities are often, but not always, associated with subsequent experiences. A recent meta-analysis indicated that response expectancies, measured using different assessment formats, reveal different effect sizes, potentially explaining mixed outcomes. Utilizing a clinical sample, we compared 5-point assessments and visual analogue scales, as measures of response expectancies for the incidence and severity of subsequent toxicities.

The impact of chemotherapy on cognitive function: a multicentre prospective cohort study in testicular cancer.

Purpose: The causal link between chemotherapy and cognitive impairment is unclear. We studied testicular cancer patients' objective and subjective cognitive function longitudinally, comparing a surgery group with a surgery + chemotherapy group, addressing prior methodological issues using a computerized test to limit assessment issues, and controlling for confounding variables.

Methods: Prospectively, of 145 patients from 16 centres with sufficient data, n = 61 receiving surgery + chemotherapy (etoposide and cisplatin ± bleomycin, BEP/EP; or single agent carboplatin) were compared to n = 41 receiving surgery alone.

Pain Education for Adolescents and Young Adults Living Beyond Cancer: An Interdisciplinary Meeting Report.

Pain is an understudied and undertreated consequence of cancer survival. Pain education is now a recommended treatment approach for persistent non-cancer pain, yet it has not been well applied to the context of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survival. In March 2018, an interdisciplinary meeting was held in Adelaide, South Australia to set a research agenda for pain education in AYA cancer survivors.

The impact of valence framing on response expectancies of side effects and subsequent experiences: a randomised controlled trial.

Pre-treatment side effect expectancies often influence subsequent experiences; however, expectancy-based reduction strategies are lacking. We explored whether framing information about adverse responses (in positive or negative formats) altered expectancies and experiences of a cold pressor task. We further investigated associations between expectancies and experiences, to inform potential interventions.

"Just As I Expected": A Longitudinal Cohort Study of the Impact of Response Expectancies on Side Effect Experiences During Radiotherapy for Prostate Cancer.

Context: Previous research has indicated that pretreatment response expectancies of side effects often predict subsequent toxicity severity. However, this has been largely based on female patients undergoing chemotherapy.

Objectives: We tested whether this association also occurred in a novel cohort, men with prostate cancer undergoing radiotherapy.

Cancer Treatment Side Effects: A Meta-analysis of the Relationship Between Response Expectancies and Experience.

Context: Although previous research has, overall, suggested a moderate relationship between response expectancies (REs) and cancer treatment-related side effects, empirical results have been mixed.

Objectives: We aimed to further explore these relationships, hypothesizing that REs would predict subsequent toxicities with the inclusion of more recent studies, across a broader range of side effects, while incorporating the impact of potential moderators including patients' experience with treatment and measurement methods. We further investigated the impact of REs across individual toxicities.

Burden on informal caregivers of elderly cancer survivors: risk versus resilience.

This study assessed psychological morbidity and resilience, including the subjective burden of 76 caregivers of elderly cancer survivors utilizing a cross-sectional questionnaire. Participants were mainly elderly female spouses, sole-caregiving > 35 hours per week; 19.1% and 23.

When expectations predict experience: the influence of psychological factors on chemotherapy toxicities.

Context: Patients with cancer undergoing similar treatments experience variable severity and frequency of side effects not adequately explained by pharmacological mechanisms, suggesting psychological influence.

Objectives: First, this study aimed to further examine the relationship between patients' expectations of multiple chemotherapy-related toxicities and experiences. Second, this study aimed to explore the impact of anxiety and cancer coping styles to aid in informing interventions to lessen such expectations.

Gynecological cancer survivors: assessment of psychological distress and unmet supportive care needs.

This study highlights psychosocial needs of gynecological cancer survivors, contributing to evaluation of the Cancer Survivors Unmet Needs measure. Of the 45 participants, 28.9% reported clinical anxiety, 20.

Mindfulness-based cognitive therapy: an efficacious community-based group intervention for depression and anxiety in a sample of cancer patients.

Objective: To assess the impact of an 8-week structured mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT) program on individuals experiencing distress as a consequence of cancer.

Design, Setting And Participants: Prospective study of 16 participants with a history of cancer and five carers of people with cancer recruited from August 2008 to February 2009 through calls to the Cancer Council South Australia Helpline. Participants were assessed for anxiety and depression before and after undergoing a course in MBCT between 30 September and 18 November 2008 and 20 February and 10 April 2009.

The multidimensionality of spiritual wellbeing: peace, meaning, and faith and their association with quality of life and coping in oncology.

Objective: This study explored associations between the recently proposed three-factor structure of the 12-item Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy-Spiritual Well-being (FACIT-Sp) subscale (Peace, Meaning, and Faith), quality of life (QoL), and coping in an oncology population.

Methods: A total of 999 newly diagnosed, study eligible, consecutive cancer patients completed the FACIT-Sp and the Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) scale.

Results: Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that Peace alone added 3% to the prediction of QoL and accounted for 15.

The long-term effects of mindfulness-based cognitive therapy as a relapse prevention treatment for major depressive disorder.

Background: Mindfulness-based Cognitive Therapy (MBCT) is a relapse prevention treatment for major depressive disorder.

Method: An observational clinical audit of 39 participants explored the long-term effects of MBCT using standardized measures of depression (BDI-II), rumination (RSS), and mindfulness (MAAS).

Results: MBCT was associated with statistically significant reductions in depression from pre to post treatment.

Improving informed consent to chemotherapy: a randomized controlled trial of written information versus an interactive multimedia CD-ROM.

Objective: This randomized controlled trial aimed to determine whether an interactive CD-ROM improved cancer patients' recall of chemotherapy treatment information over standard written information, and whether demographic, cognitive, and psychological factors better predicted recall than this format of delivery.

Methods: One-hundred-and-one new patients about to commence chemotherapy were randomized to receive written information or a CD-ROM containing treatment information before giving informed consent. Patients' recall, concentration, short-term memory, reading comprehension, anxiety, depression, and coping styles were assessed with standardized measures pre-treatment.

Spirituality as a core domain in the assessment of quality of life in oncology.

Objectives: This study investigated including spiritual wellbeing as a core domain in the assessment of quality of life (QOL) in an Australian oncology population.

Methods: Four hundred and ninety consecutive cancer patients with mixed diagnoses completed the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy--Spiritual Well-Being (FACIT-Sp) and the Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) scale.

Results: Overall, 449 patients completed assessments.

Relationships between patients' pre-treatment expectations of toxicities and post chemotherapy experiences.

A lack of adequate pharmacological explanations for side effect variation following chemotherapy suggests psychological factors may contribute to toxicity experience. This research aimed to determine if patients' expectations were associated with perceived toxicities for a wider range of chemotherapy toxicities than previously researched, including subjective and objective side effects. Eighty-seven chemotherapy-naive patients rated their expectations of 20 common side-effects before treatment, and then rated their experiences following their first chemotherapy dose.