Psycho-oncology
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This study investigated how parents' preferred level of control in treatment decision-making is related to their personal health care involvement and to their decision to use complementary therapies (CTs) for their child. One hundred-eighteen parents of pediatric oncology patients completed an anonymous CT survey. The Krantz Health Opinion Survey (KHOS) was used to determine parents' preferred involvement in personal health care, and the Control Preferences Scale for Pediatrics (CPS-P) measured preferred role in pediatric treatment decision-making. ⋯ The hypothesized relationship between CT use and parents' own health care involvement was partially supported. Preference for control in decision-making was not associated with CT use. These findings provide validation for the newly developed CPS-P and indicate that parents' decisions to use CT for their child are related in part to individual health care preferences.
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A social-cognitive processing model was used to examine the association of social support with intrusive thoughts and avoidance in predicting adjustment in 53 patients receiving an experimental vaccine for the treatment of either metastatic melanoma (n=24) or metastatic renal cell cancer (n=29). Social support, intrusive thoughts/avoidance, psychological distress and quality of life were assessed on the day of the first treatment, on the day of the final treatment, and 1 month after the end of treatment during a routine follow-up visit. Social support at the beginning of treatment was negatively associated with psychological distress and positively associated with mental health quality of life (QOL) 1 month after treatment, and these associations were mediated by intrusive thoughts/avoidance at the end of treatment. ⋯ These results suggest that social support buffers the negative association between intrusive thoughts/avoidance and psychological adjustment. Overall, the results are consistent with a social-cognitive processing model of post-trauma reactions among cancer patients. Our results highlight the need to assess patients' perceived support and to further develop and assess the benefits of interventions to increase patients' supportive networks and to facilitate cognitive processing of the cancer experience.