Screening for anxiety in patients with cancer: Diagnostic accuracy of GAD-7 items considering lowered GAD-7 cut-offs.

Background: A standard questionnaire for generalized anxiety disorders is the GAD-7. Attempts to improve its screening capacity in oncological settings resulted in a discussion about lowering its cut-off. This study examines the diagnostic accuracy of the GAD-7 items depending on applied cut-offs and whether, similar to depressive symptoms, a distinction between somatic-emotional and cognitive items might be relevant.

Peace, equanimity and acceptance in the cancer experience: validation of the German version (PEACE-G) and associations with mental health, health-related quality of life and psychological constructs.

Background: Systematic reviews and meta-analyses reveal the importance of an accepting attitude towards cancer for mental health and functional coping. The aim of this study was to examine the psychometric properties of the German translation of the Peace, Equanimity, and Acceptance in the Cancer Experience (PEACE) questionnaire (Mack et al., 2008) and to investigate its associations with mental health, health-related quality of life (HRQoL) and related constructs.

The curious physician: exploring the role of curiosity in professionalism, patient care, and well-being.

Introduction: Curiosity is a fundamental human trait that drives learning and exploration. However, research on curiosity has received little attention in the medical field, despite its potential to enhance knowledge acquisition, work performance, and psychosocial well-being. This study aimed to address part of this gap by investigating physicians' perspectives on their personal experiences with curiosity and its role in their professional practice and medical training.

Psychosocial distress and psychosocial resources in couples facing non-melanoma skin cancers and malignant melanoma.

Background: Skin cancer is the most common cancer worldwide and comprises various non-melanoma skin cancer (NMCS) diagnoses and malignant melanoma (MM). It places a psychological burden on patients and their spouses. The present study aims to investigate psychological distress, temporal changes of psychosocial resources (PR), as well as dyadic dynamics of psychological distress and PR in patients with NMSC or MM and their spouses.

Electronic health intervention to manage symptoms of immunotherapy in patients with cancer (SOFIA): Results from a randomized controlled pilot trial.

Background: For patients receiving immune checkpoint inhibitors, early detection of immune-related adverse events (irAEs) is critical for one's safety. To this end, a smartphone app (SOFIA) was developed that featured the assessment of electronic patient-reported outcomes (ePROs) focusing on irAEs as well as a set of comprehensive supportive information. Its feasibility and preliminary efficacy were evaluated in a randomized controlled trial (RCT).