Fear of recurrence, sense of coherence and posttraumatic stress disorder in haematological cancer survivors

Black, E. K. and White, C. A. (2005) Fear of recurrence, sense of coherence and posttraumatic stress disorder in haematological cancer survivors. Psycho-Oncology, 14(6), pp. 510-515. (doi: 10.1002/pon.894) (PMID:15669018)

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Abstract

The diagnosis and treatment of cancer has been shown to precipitate posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in some cancer survivors. However few studies have considered the links between cancer-related PTSD and theoretical models of PTSD. This study considers a cognitive model of PTSD by examining the relationship between sense of coherence, and fear of recurrence to posttraumatic stress symptomatology (PTSS) in haematological cancer survivors. Thirty-six participants completed the PTSD Checklist—Civilian Version (PCL-C), the Impact of Events Scale—Revised (IES-R), the sense of coherence scale and two measures of fear of recurrence. Two measures of fear of recurrence were included as no fear of recurrence measures had previously been assessed for reliability and validity on British populations. Seventeen percent of the sample met DSM-IV diagnostic criteria for PTSD. Statistically significant relationships were found between sense of coherence and fear of recurrence and PTSS, raising questions about the possibility of using this construct as a screening measure for vulnerability to PTSD. A relationship was also found between fear of recurrence and PTSS suggesting that cancer-related PTSS may fit within the theoretical model of PTSD considered. Further examination of factors affecting the onset, maintenance and treatment of PTSD in this population is required.

Item Type:Articles
Keywords:Adult, female, humans, male, psychological, psychiatric status rating scales, quality of life, models, self concept, recurrence, fear, hematologic neoplasms/pa pathology, hematologic neoplasms/px psychology, stress disorders, survivors/px psychology, diagnostic and statistical manual of mental disord, post-traumatic/et etiology, post-traumatic/px psychology, reproducibility of results.
Status:Published
Refereed:Yes
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID:White, Professor Craig
Authors: Black, E. K., and White, C. A.
College/School:College of Medical Veterinary and Life Sciences > School of Health & Wellbeing > Mental Health and Wellbeing
Journal Name:Psycho-Oncology
Publisher:Wiley
ISSN:1057-9249
ISSN (Online):1099-1611
Published Online:24 January 2005

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