THE PROCESS OF COPING WITH INTRACAVITY RADIATION TREATMENT FOR GYNECOLOGIC CANCER (STRESS, PROFILE OF MOOD STATES, SICKNESS IMPACT PROFILE, JALOWIEC SCALE).
Contributors: University of Rochester.
Published: 1985
Number of pages: 158
Subjects: Health Sciences, Nursing.
Description: The purpose of this study was to describe the process of coping with the experience of receiving intracavity radiation treatment (ICR) for gynecologic cancer. Data were collected on the outcomes of coping, emotion (Profile of Mood States) and level of function (Sickness Impact Profile), and symptom severity and upset the evening before, during, the day after, and 1 to 2 weeks after treatment. Utilization of coping strategies was measured the evening before and during treatment using the Jalowiec Coping Scale (JCS). Individual differences were measured using the Multidimensional Health Locus of Control Scale (MHLC) and the Miller Behavioral Style Scale (MBSS). Focus of attention (emotional or objective) was measured the evening before and during treatment.

The subjects (N = 28) had a mean age of 52 years, 39% were employed full-time, 56% had occupations as manual workers, 57% had completed 12 or more years of education, and 68% were married or widowed. The treatment required the subjects to be hospitalized on complete bedrest with radiation precautions for an average of 48 hours. Intrauterine devices were used to treat 18 subjects and vaginal applicators were used to treat 10 subjects. Negative mood and level of disruption in function were generally low. Repeated measures ANOVA showed no change in negative mood over time while the change in function was attributable to the increase in disruption during treatment. The 3 subjects who reported an emotional focus before treatment had the highest levels of negative mood during treatment. Monitors (high MBSS) had higher levels of negative mood than blunters (low MBSS) the evening before treatment. There was no consistent pattern of relationship between the scales of the MHLC and the outcomes of coping. Utilization of affective coping strategies and problem-oriented coping strategies was positively correlated with negative mood and disruption in function over the points of measurement.

The results indicate that subjects tolerated ICR well and rapidly resumed usual function following discharge from the hospital, despite the persistence of some symptoms 1 to 2 weeks after treatment. The positive association between the utilization of coping strategies and negative outcomes of coping suggests a need to examine the measurement of coping strategies and consider the possibility that these actions represent a response to a stressful situation rather than a method of dealing with the situation.
Notes: Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 46-11, Section: B, page: 3784.

Thesis (PH.D.)--THE UNIVERSITY OF ROCHESTER, 1985.

School code: 0188.