Purpose: Consistent with current literature, which highlights the role of narration as a key tool for exploring the processes by which people construct the meaning of their critical experiences the authors propose a theoretical and methodological model to analyse the narratives of illness and identify any innovative aspects. The generative model…

In this paper, we examine the use of creative methods for understanding the experience of young adults aged between 16 and 30 years over a year following a cancer diagnosis. Exploring the renegotiation of identity, the narrative, longitudinal research design of the study demonstrated the unfolding process of the narrative work between participants…

Women with breast cancer frequently report psychological distress throughout the treatment process. Patients have several empirically supported options for group psychotherapy while undergoing breast cancer treatment. However, few interventions have been developed that incorporate spirituality into psychotherapy, despite indications that patients…

Previous research suggests that caregivers and terminally ill patients face substantial difficulties discussing illness and death. Existing research, however, has focused primarily on the experience of patients. The current study compared responses as well as the relative strength of association between mortality communication, fear of death, and…

Research concerning distress in couples coping with cancer was integrated using meta-analysis and narrative critical appraisal. Individual levels of distress were determined more by gender than by the role of being the person with cancer versus that person's partner. That is, women reported consistently more distress than men regardless of their…

The authors evaluated mechanisms of change for a coping and communication-enhancing intervention (CCI) and supportive counseling (SC). They proposed that the effects of CCI on depressive symptoms would be mediated by psychological processes targeted by CCI, namely increases in the following: positive reappraisal, acceptance, planful problem…

Despite lower incidence, African American women are at increased risk of dying from breast cancer relative to their European American counterparts. Although there are key differences in both screening behavior and tumor characteristics, an additional part of this mortality difference may lie in the fact that African American women receive…

Depression at the end of life is a common mental health issue with serious implications for quality of life and decision making. This study investigated the reliability and validity of one of the most frequently used measures of depression, the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale (HAM-D) in 422 patients with terminal cancer admitted to a palliative…

In this study, the authors investigated the relationship between autobiographical memory and the onset and maintenance of distressing memories following cancer. In Study 1, participants recently diagnosed with head, neck, or lung cancer were assessed for acute stress disorder (ASD). Participants with ASD reported fewer specific memories than did…

The authors prospectively tested the hypothesis that emotional expressivity would moderate the predictive relationship between patient neuroticism and spousal constraints among 120 individuals with cancer. The authors also examined whether patient gender further moderated the hypothesized relationships. After we controlled for Time 1 constraints,…

Data from 83 families with schoolage children in which a parent had died of cancer during the preceding 19 months indicate that the child's perception of the surviving parent's openness in parental communication was found to be significantly correlated with lower levels of depressive symptoms and state anxiety in the children. (SLD)

This study examined the relationship of catastrophizing to fatigue in 80 women receiving chemotherapy (CT) or radiotherapy (RT) for treatment of early stage breast cancer. Findings revealed expected relationships between catastrophizing and fatigue among women receiving RT but not CT. Among RT patients, those high in catastrophizing reported…

The aim of this qualitative study was to determine what the emotional reactions, experiences, and coping and support systems of families would be after the death of their children from cancer. The sample comprised 19 family members from five families. At the time of the interviews, it had been 8-14 months since the death of their children. The…

The author provides some reflections based on her experiences as a member of Becky's treatment team (see Werth, this issue). She briefly highlights some of the areas that were most important in her work with Becky and others with life-limiting illnesses, including information-seeking, social support, maintaining normalcy, depression and…

Two studies examined breast cancer patients' perceptions of their partners' reactions to their diagnosis and treatment as influences on 3 aspects of patients' well-being: psychosexual adjustment, emotional distress, and marital satisfaction. Study 1, cross-sectional, indicated that partner initiation of sex, frequency of sex, a positive 1st sexual…