Qualitative Assessment of Perceived Organizational Support for Employed Breast Cancer Survivors.

Objective: A more detailed understanding of unmet organizational support needs and workplace-based best practices for supporting cancer survivors is needed.

Methods: Ninety-four working breast cancer survivors responded to an open-ended survey question regarding the desired types of organizational support that were and were not received during early survivorship. We performed content-analysis of qualitative data.

Perceptions of clinical support for employed breast cancer survivors managing work and health challenges.

Purpose: A substantial portion of breast cancer survivors are active in the workforce, yet factors that allow survivors to balance work with cancer management and to return to work are poorly understood. We examined breast cancer survivors' most valued/desired types of support in early survivorship.

Methods: Seventy-six employed breast cancer survivors answered an open-ended survey question assessing the most valued/desired support to receive from healthcare providers during early survivorship to manage work and health.

Social comparisons and quality of life following a prostate cancer diagnosis.

Purpose: The objective was to explore the relationships among cognitive appraisals of prostate cancer (challenge, threat, and harm/loss), social comparisons, and quality of life in men previously diagnosed. Design, Sample, & Methods: Men who had participated in prostate cancer support groups completed a cross-sectional questionnaire (N = 189). Multivariable linear regression was used to evaluate social comparisons as mediators of quality of life while controlling for uncertainty and optimism.

The Health Effects of Masculine Self-Esteem Following Treatment for Localized Prostate Cancer Among Gay Men.

Purpose: To identify factors associated with masculine self-esteem in gay men following treatment for localized prostate cancer (PCa) and to determine the association between masculine self-esteem, PCa-specific factors, and mental health factors in these patients.

Methods: A national cross-sectional survey of gay PCa survivors was conducted in 2010-2011. To be eligible for the study, men needed to be age 50 or older, reside in the United States, self-identify as gay, able to read, write, and speak English, and to have been treated for PCa at least 1 year ago.

Assessing quality of life in young adult cancer survivors: development of the Survivorship-Related Quality of Life scale.

Purpose: Scientific advances in treatments and outcomes for those diagnosed with cancer in late adolescence and early adulthood depend, in part, on the availability of adequate assessment tools to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for survivors in this age group. Domains especially relevant to late adolescence and young adulthood (LAYA; e.g.

Parent adaptation and family functioning in relation to narratives of children with chronic illness.

Background: This study assessed the experience of parents who have a child diagnosed with chronic illness and whether children's narratives mirror these experiences.

Method: A total of 66 parents completed assessments about adaptation and family functioning. Children with type 1 diabetes or asthma participated in a story-stem narrative task.

Emotional approach coping: gender differences on psychological adjustment in young to middle-aged cancer survivors.

Objective: The effect of emotional approach coping (EAC) varies by gender. However, this gender difference has not yet been investigated in cancer survivors. We investigated whether the effects of two kinds of EAC--emotional processing (EP) and emotional expression (EE)--vary by gender and whether EAC has effects above and beyond the effect of other coping strategies.

Cognitive and emotional aspects of fear of recurrence: predictors and relations with adjustment in young to middle-aged cancer survivors.

Objective: We investigated predictors of emotional (worry) and cognitive (perceived risk) dimensions of fear of recurrence (FOR) and their relationships with psychological well-being in a sample of young and middle-aged adult cancer survivors.

Methods: Eligible participants were survivors between 18 and 55 years old and diagnosed from 1 to 3 years prior. A total of 250 participants were recruited, and 167 responded to a 1-year follow-up.

The relationship of coping strategies, social support, and attachment style with posttraumatic growth in cancer survivors.

This cross-sectional study investigated attachment style, coping strategies, social support, and posttraumatic growth (PTG) in 54 cancer survivors. Secure attachment was significantly associated with active coping, positive reframing, and religion, and these were all associated with PTG. Insecure types of attachment and social support variables were unrelated to PTG.

Illness centrality, disclosure, and well-being in younger and middle-aged adult cancer survivors.

Objectives: Cancer survivorship is often linked with identity reconstruction, and the extent to which individuals identify with their cancer experience may be an important aspect of their adjustment to longer-term cancer survivorship. However, little is known about the extent to which cancer is central to one's identity or the relations of centrality of cancer to identity with well-being. Further, the impact of cancer identity centrality might be moderated by the extent to which survivors openly disclose their survivorship status.

Associations of positive and negative life changes with well-being in young and middle-aged adult cancer survivors.

Both positive and negative changes are commonly reported by cancer survivors, and both may impact quality of life. Yet few studies have directly compared the associations of positive and negative changes across multiple life domains with multiple aspects of well-being. This study examined positive and negative changes and their conjoint relation to a range of well-being indices.

Post-traumatic growth: finding positive meaning in cancer survivorship moderates the impact of intrusive thoughts on adjustment in younger adults.

Objective: We examined whether post-traumatic growth would moderate the impact of intrusive thoughts on a range of dimensions of well-being in a sample of younger adult survivors of various types of cancer.

Methods: 167 participants completed questionnaires regarding intrusive thoughts, post-traumatic growth, mental and physical health-related quality of life, positive and negative affect, life satisfaction, and spiritual well-being. Multiple regression analyses controlling for relevant background and cancer-related variables tested the interaction effects of post-traumatic growth and intrusive thoughts.

Self-identity after cancer: "survivor", "victim", "patient", and "person with cancer".

Background: Living through cancer often involves developing new identities which may strongly influence well-being and relationships with care providers, yet little is currently known about these post-cancer identities.

Objectives: To examine (1) the extent to which four post-cancer identities (patient, person who has had cancer, victim, and survivor) are adopted, (2) relations between each identity and involvement in cancer-related activities and mental and physical well-being, and (3) correlates of these identities.

Design: Cross-sectional questionnaire-based study.

Cancer from both sides now: combining personal and research perspectives on survivorship.

Cancer survivorship is increasingly a situation of chronic disease management that needs to be integrated with the context of broader health and well-being. This perspective paper combines personal experiences and a professional research program to address the complexities of long-term management of cancer and integrated care and the importance of psychological distress and psychological growth expressed in diverse pathways of survivorship. The role of age is addressed as partially defining the extent and nature of long-term psychological effects.

Religiousness/spirituality and health behaviors in younger adult cancer survivors: does faith promote a healthier lifestyle?

Positive health behaviors are crucial to cancer survivors' well-being, yet little is known about the personal factors that may facilitate positive health behaviors. The current study focuses on the association of religion/spirituality (R/S) and health behaviors, examining links between health behaviors and religious attendance, daily spiritual experiences, and religious struggle in a sample of 167 younger adult survivors of a variety of cancers. The extent to which positive affect (self-assurance) and negative affect (guilt/shame) mediate these links was also investigated.

Facets of spirituality as predictors of adjustment to cancer: relative contributions of having faith and finding meaning.

Spirituality is a multidimensional construct, and little is known about how its distinct dimensions jointly affect well-being. In longitudinal studies (Study 1, n = 418 breast cancer patients; Study 2, n = 165 cancer survivors), the authors examined 2 components of spiritual well-being (i.e.

Future perspectives on the treatment issues associated with cancer and aging.

For many older individuals, the decision to undergo treatment for cancer is viewed as a tradeoff between loss of function and extension of life: a decision that often is complicated by concomitant issues such as comorbid medical conditions, frailty, functional declines, family dynamics, and social and psychological issues. This poses several challenges and affords opportunities for healthcare professionals conducting research with older cancer patients who are undergoing treatment. The current article presents a summary of a roundtable discussion of the issues that face older individuals with cancer during the treatment phase of a cancer diagnosis.

Positive and negative health behavior changes in cancer survivors: a stress and coping perspective.

Cancer survivors often make health behavior changes in response to their increased risk for subsequent health problems. However, little is known about the mechanisms underlying these changes or whether they differ for positive and negative changes. This cross-sectional study applied a stress and coping model to examine both positive and negative health behavior changes in 250 middle-aged cancer survivors.

Meaning making and psychological adjustment following cancer: the mediating roles of growth, life meaning, and restored just-world beliefs.

Cancer survivors' efforts at meaning making may influence the extent to which they successfully make meaning from their experience (i.e., experience posttraumatic growth, find life meaningful, and restore beliefs in a just world), which may, in turn, influence their psychological adjustment.

Cancer-related identity and positive affect in survivors of prostate cancer.

Introduction: Despite a shift in the cancer culture and language used to describe individuals diagnosed with this disease, the extent to which individuals with cancer adopt a particular cancer-related identity and the impact of these identities in relation to their well-being is virtually unknown.

Materials And Methods: Using a cross-sectional study design and a metropolitan tumor registry, a mail questionnaire to examine post-treatment quality of life was sent to prostate cancer (PCa) survivors. The sample consisted of 490 PCa survivors, ranging in age from 49-88 (M = 69.

A gerontologic perspective on cancer and aging.

Most people diagnosed with cancer are aged >65 years, and many diagnosed younger live to become older survivors. Geriatric oncology is becoming recognized as a specialty area within oncology. It focuses specifically on the functional impacts of the interplay of aging and cancer, including the role of comorbidities.

Deconstructing spiritual well-being: existential well-being and HRQOL in cancer survivors.

We demonstrate the utility of partitioning the spiritual well-being (SpWB) construct into spiritual and religious components using results from a study of the relationship of existential well-being to health-related quality of life (HRQOL) in a sample of 237 cancer survivors. Existential and religious well-being were measured using the FACIT-Sp-12 and HRQOL was measured using the mental and physical component scores of the SF-12. In hierarchical linear regression analyses, existential well-being fully mediated religious well-being's effect on HRQOL and explained unique variance in both the mental and physical HRQOL domains, controlling for demographic, disease, and psychosocial variables previously shown to impact HRQOL.

Social comparison processes in autobiographies of adult cancer survivors.

Cancer survivors often compare their situations to other survivors' situations. However, types of social comparison processes used and resulting outcomes are not clearly delineated. This study explores usage and consequences of three social comparison styles (downward, upward and parallel) of adult cancer survivors in free narratives, using content analysis of 30 autobiographical books by survivors ranging in age from 30-70 (M = 54, SD = 10.

After prostate cancer: predictors of well-being among long-term prostate cancer survivors.

Background: Despite growing numbers of prostate cancer (PCa) survivors, to the authors' knowledge there is little research regarding how personality, coping, and treatment influence men's psychologic well-being, as distinct from the often-studied functional, health-related quality of life. The purpose of this study was to examine how hope, optimism, use of coping strategies, and primary treatment predict well-being, positive and negative affect, impact, depression, and adaptive changes among PCa survivors.

Methods: A questionnaire tapping personality, primary treatment, and coping strategy predictor variables and outcome variables of both positive and negative aspects of well-being was sent to 1-8-year PCa survivors.

Predicting posttraumatic growth in breast cancer survivors.

Wide variability exists with respect to how breast cancer survivors respond to common psychological and psychosocial challenges of their disease, ranging from posttraumatic stress disorder to posttraumatic growth. This cross-sectional study examined contextual, disease-related, and intraindividual predictors of posttraumatic growth in 224 randomly selected breast cancer survivors. A series of hierarchical regression analyses found that age at diagnosis, marital status, employment, education, perceived intensity of disease, and active coping accounted for 34%, 35%, and 28% of the variance in growth in relationships with others, new possibilities, and appreciation for life.