Expectations, experiences and preferences of patients and physicians in the informed consent process for clinical trials in oncology.

Purpose: The aim of the present study was to explore (1) informed consent (IC) representations, level of understanding, needs, and factors that influence the willingness of cancer patients to participate in randomized controlled trials (RCTs) (phase I) and (2) representations, experiences, and critical issues of physicians involved in the same process (phase II).

Methods: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 20 cancer patients who had been asked to enroll in a phase II/III RCT (phase I). Two focus groups were conducted with 13 physicians enrolled in the same process (phase II).

A Longitudinal Investigation of Posttraumatic Growth and Quality of Life in Liver Transplant Recipients.

Background: What does it mean to adjust to a liver transplant? Quality of life research has offered an impairment model, defining adjustment as the absence of diagnosed psychological disorder or of limitations in physical functioning. Recently emerging research on posttraumatic growth testifies the prevalence of positive life changes following the life-threatening illnesses. The present study aimed to verify the presence of the posttraumatic growth process in liver transplant patients and its relationship with traditional quality of life.

Stability and change of lifestyle profiles in cardiovascular patients after their first acute coronary event.

Background: Acute coronary syndrome (ACS) is a major cause of morbidity and mortality. Lifestyle and health behavior changes play an important role in the primary and secondary prevention of ACS recurrence. Changes in unhealthy lifestyles after an acute coronary event have been analyzed by considering separate behaviors individually, even though research on the healthy population has demonstrated that unhealthy behaviors tend to co-occur.

Occupational Resilience Assets Questionnaire (ORA-Q): a multilevel measure.

Objectives: The main aim of the present study is to present the Occupational Resilience Assets Questionnaire (ORA-Q), a questionnaire developed in three different levels (organizational, occupational, and personal) for assessing resilience resources at work. The purpose of the ORA-Q is to improve and facilitate research on resilience processes in the workplaces. Further the stress-buffering valence of the considered dimensions have been tested, too.

A longitudinal study on the information needs and preferences of patients after an acute coronary syndrome.

Background: Research has shown that the provision of pertinent health information to patients with cardiovascular disease is associated with better adherence to medical prescriptions, behavioral changes, and enhanced perception of control over the disease. Yet there is no clear knowledge on how to improve information pertinence. Identifying and meeting the information needs of patients and their preferences for sources of information is pivotal to developing patient-led services.

A Type A and Type D Combined Personality Typology in Essential Hypertension and Acute Coronary Syndrome Patients: Associations with Demographic, Psychological, Clinical, and Lifestyle Indicators.

Many studies have focused on Type A and Type D personality types in the context of cardiovascular diseases (CVDs), but nothing is known about how these personality types combine to create new profiles. The present study aimed to develop a typology of Type A and Type D personality in two groups of patients affected by and at risk for coronary disease. The study involved 711 patients: 51.

Post-traumatic growth enhances social identification in liver transplant patients: A longitudinal study.

Objective: The main aim of this paper is to investigate the prediction that greater subjective identification with relevant groups and social categories (i.e. 'family' and 'transplantees') can be an outcome of post-traumatic growth (PTG).

From Adjustment to Thriving: Exploring Well-Being in Young Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer and Their Siblings.

Purpose: Few studies have addressed the adaptive mental health status of young adult (YA) survivors of childhood cancer (SCCs) and the siblings (SIBs) of the same families. This article explores the existence of different psychological well-being (PWB) profiles and verifies their relationship with life satisfaction, resilience, and mental adjustment among Italian YA survivors of childhood leukemia or lymphoma and their own SIBs.

Methods: YA SCCs (n = 35) who had been off primary treatment for at least 5 years and their SIBs (n = 47) completed anonymous self-report questionnaires for PWB, life satisfaction, resilience, and mental adjustment.

Changes in Dietary Behavior among Coronary and Hypertensive Patients: A Longitudinal Investigation Using the Health Action Process Approach.

Background: Cardiovascular diseases (CVDs) are a major cause of worldwide morbidity and mortality. Nutrition plays an important role in the primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention of CVDs. The present longitudinal study used the Health Action Process Approach (HAPA) to investigate changes in dietary behavior in coronary patients (CPs) affected by acute coronary syndrome and hypertensive patients (HPs) affected by essential arterial hypertension.

Social support and adherence to treatment in hypertensive patients: a meta-analysis.

Background: It is important to examine factors associated with patient adherence to hypertension control strategies.

Purpose: A meta-analysis was conducted to examine whether social support was related to adherence to healthy lifestyle and treatment medication in hypertensive patients.

Methods: Journal articles were searched in medical (CINAHL, MEDLINE), psychological (PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES), and educational (ERIC) electronic databases; in reference lists of selected papers; and in the reference list of a previous review.

Seeking and experiencing meaning: exploring the role of meaning in promoting mental adjustment and eudaimonic well-being in cancer patients.

Objective: The present study is the result of theory-driven research investigating the role of the search for and presence of meaning in enhancing both mental adjustment and eudaimonic well-being in cancer patients.

Method: A cross-sectional study involved 266 cancer patients currently in the treatment and management phase of their illness. Data were collected by a written questionnaire.

Correlates of identity configurations: three studies with adolescent and emerging adult cohorts.

Adolescence and emerging adulthood are two core developmental periods in which individuals can develop a meaningful identity across domains. However, there is a lack of studies exploring correlates of different identity configurations. The purpose of this article was to fill this gap in examining correlates of configurations characterized by identity stability or instability in both ideological and relational domains or identity stability in one domain and instability in the other domain.

The combined contribution of social support and coping strategies in predicting post-traumatic growth: a longitudinal study on cancer patients.

Objectives: The aim of this study is to investigate the role of social support and coping strategies in enhancing post-traumatic growth (PTG) in cancer patients. The study focused on both avoidance and approaching coping and on four distinct types of social support: (a) perceived availability, (b) actual received, (c) satisfaction with received support, and (d) the competence of caregiver to satisfy the patient's basic psychological needs of autonomy, competence, and relatedness.

Methods: A longitudinal study was conducted with a group of 41 cancer patients currently in the treatment and management phase of their illness.

In-group identification mediates the effects of subjective in-group status on mental health.

We present two studies exploring the effects of the relative standing of one's in-group in the social hierarchy, which we conceptualize as 'subjective in-group status', on mental health and well-being. Study 1 focuses on the subjective status of a professional in-group (prison guards) while Study 2 concerns the subjective status of the family in-group. Results show that higher subjective in-group status predicts better mental health (e.