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Browsing by Author "Krueger, Ellen F."
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Item Breast cancer survivors’ perceptions of their partners’ interest in cancer-focused psychosocial interventions(LWW, 2021) Cohee, Andrea A.; Krueger, Ellen F.; Vachon, Eric A.; Cottingham, Ann H.; Stutz, Patrick V.; Alwine, Jennifer S.; Johns, Shelley A.Background: Despite that partners of breast cancer survivors (BCS) often experience long-term consequences from the cancer experience, including fear of recurrence and depression, there are rarely psychosocial interventions aimed at mitigating these consequences. Because partners are usually recruited to research studies through BCS, it is important to understand the views of BCS regarding their partners’ involvement in interventions. The aim of this study was to explore perceptions of BCS regarding the advisability of offering a psychosocial intervention to their partners. Methods: BCS (N = 22) enrolled in 1 of 3 interventions (acceptance and commitment therapy [ACT], survivorship education [SE], or enhanced usual care [EUC]) were queried about whether they believed their partner would be interested in a psychosocial intervention similar to what they had just completed and asked to provide their opinions about how a partner intervention should be structured and what it should address. Twenty-two BCS (ACT group [n = 5], SE [n = 11], and EUC [n = 6]) completed the interviews. Results: The participants identified 3 unmet partner needs that they thought could be addressed by a psychosocial intervention: problems with coping, communication breakdowns, and lack of information. They also provided 3 recommendations regarding the development of a partner intervention: the use of a group format, the provision of separate sessions for partners and BCS, and the inclusion of intervention components that provide practical or factual information related to breast cancer. Conclusions: BCS can provide valuable insights that can inform the development of psychosocial interventions for partners of survivors. The development of such partner interventions is critical to address the negative and often hidden health and social effects experienced by partners of BCS.Item Development of a Patient Centered Outcome Questionnaire for Advanced Lung Cancer Patients(2020-05) Krueger, Ellen F.; Mosher, Catherine; Hirsh, Adam; McGrew, JohnSymptom research with advanced lung cancer patients has primarily focused on symptom severity, frequency, and distress; yet, little is known about advanced lung cancer patients’ priorities and success criteria for symptom improvement. To address these gaps in the literature, this study examined these outcomes using a modified Patient Centered Outcomes Questionnaire (PCOQ), which has largely been used with adults with chronic pain. Advanced lung cancer patients (N = 102) were recruited from the Indiana University Simon Cancer Center to participate in a one-time self-report survey, including demographic and medical questionnaires, symptom treatment history, standardized measures of symptom severity and quality of life, and the modified PCOQ focused on eight common symptoms in advanced lung cancer. Cancer information was collected from medical records. My primary aim was to evaluate the construct validity of the PCOQ. As hypothesized, symptom severity ratings on the PCOQ were positively correlated with standardized assessments of the same symptoms as well as functional status. Greater severity of most symptoms on the PCOQ was also correlated with worse quality of life, and greater severity of four symptoms was correlated with having more medical comorbidities. Positive, moderate correlations were found between the severity and importance of seeing improvement in cough, fatigue, sleep problems, and pain on the PCOQ. Patients considered low levels of symptom severity to be acceptable following symptom treatment; no differences were found across the eight symptoms. Latent profile analysis identified four patient subgroups based on the importance of seeing improvement in each of the symptoms: (1) those who rated all symptoms as low in importance (n = 12); (2) those who rated bronchial symptoms and sleep problems as low in importance and all other symptoms as moderately important (n = 29); (3) those who rated nausea and emotional distress as low in importance and all other symptoms as moderately important (n = 23); and (4) those who rated all symptoms as highly important (n = 33). These subgroups were unrelated to demographic and clinical factors, except for functional status. Findings suggest that symptom severity and importance are related yet distinct aspects of the advanced lung cancer symptom experience. Furthermore, patients have heterogeneous priorities for symptom management, which has implications for tailoring treatment.Item Relations of perceived injustice to psycho-spiritual outcomes in advanced lung and prostate cancer: Examining the role of acceptance and meaning making(Wiley, 2022-12) Secinti, Ekin; Wu, Wei; Krueger, Ellen F.; Hirsh, Adam T.; Torke, Alexia M.; Hanna, Nasser H.; Adra, Nabil; Durm, Gregory A.; Einhorn, Lawrence; Pili, Roberto; Jalal, Shadia I.; Mosher, Catherine E.; Psychology, School of ScienceObjective: Many advanced cancer patients struggle with anxiety, depressive symptoms, and anger toward God and illness-related stressors. Patients may perceive their illness as an injustice (i.e., appraise their illness as unfair, severe, and irreparable or blame others for their illness), which may be a risk factor for poor psychological and spiritual outcomes. This study examined relations between cancer-related perceived injustice and psycho-spiritual outcomes as well as potential mediators of these relationships. Methods: Advanced lung (n=102) and prostate (n=99) cancer patients completed a one-time survey. Using path analyses, we examined a parallel mediation model including the direct effects of perceived injustice on psycho-spiritual outcomes (i.e., anxiety, depressive symptoms, anger about cancer, anger towards God) and the indirect effects of perceived injustice on psycho-spiritual outcomes through two parallel mediators: meaning making and acceptance of cancer. We then explored whether these relations differed by cancer type. Results: Path analyses indicated that perceived injustice was directly and indirectly – through acceptance of cancer but not meaning making – associated with psycho-spiritual outcomes. Results did not differ between lung and prostate cancer patients. Conclusions: Advanced cancer patients with greater perceived injustice are at higher risk for poor psycho-spiritual outcomes. Acceptance of cancer, but not meaning making, explained relationships between cancer-related perceived injustice and psycho-spiritual outcomes. Findings support testing acceptance-based interventions to address perceived injustice in advanced cancer patients.