This study offers a brief review of the literature on resilience. The review served as a basis for designing a qualitative study to observe how resilience develops in survivors of breast cancer. Survivors are those who lead productive, satisfying and/or inspirational lives, after their treatment has ended. By using qualitative data collection methods and post hoc data analysis, a purposive sampling of 11 women, in the Midwest, resilient survivors of breast cancer were studied. These women were asked to write brief autobiographies, detailing the important factors and contexts that were evidence of the development of resilience in themselves. Tape recorded interviews allowed participants to add to or delete from their autobiographies.The findings showed the eleven participants shared six common characteristics: (1) making a spiritual connection; (2) having meaningful work; (3) engaging in social activism; (4) being a self-directed learner; (5) living a healthy lifestyle; and (6) expressing a wide range of feelings. In addition, the taped interviews revealed the importance of creativity and authentic relationships. A resilience wheel illustrates the definition of resilience, i.e., as a positive attitude about one's body, mind, spirit and emotions, manifested by living a healthy lifestyle; engaging in meaningful work; forming and maintaining authentic relationships; and-expressing a wide range of feelings appropriately. The study demonstrated resilience is more than effective coping. It is observed and characterized by others as a zest for life.Among these participants, resilience/zest for life was found to have developed in their youth, when they identified with a positive role model/s, who modeled resilient attitudes/values. As children they internalized these values, acting on them in small ways, until adulthood when a life event triggered a shift. As adults they, then, claimed these internalized values as "my own philosophy."Although there was not sufficient evidence to discuss resilience as a developmental process in adulthood, the ages of the participants (40-77) imply the process of learning and growing continues throughout the life span.Suggestions for teaching resilience are offered along with recommendations for future research. / Department of Educational Leadership

There is no abstract available for this dissertation. / Department of Counseling Psychology and Guidance Services

This Heideggerian phenomenological hermeneutic study explores the lived experience of those coming to terms with the diagnosis of a life-threatening form of cancer. It offers an interpretation of the narratives of eight adult New Zealanders, three men and five women, aged between 25 and 60 years of age who had been recently diagnosed. The study, based upon van Manen's (1990) six-step method, uncovers the experience of the person facing up to being told they have a life-threatening form of cancer within New Zealand society. It is informed by the writing of Heidegger. The study explores the meaning of cancer to the person involved and how this meaning affects them and their world. The study explores the changes within the person and how this change in the person subsequently changes the understanding they have of themselves and the world. The narratives of participants reveal a journey that is undertaken, a journey they thought they would never undertake and were not prepared to take. The cancer journey begins suddenly, is frightening in its intensity, towards a perceived destination of probable death. The real journey for many takes an unforeseen detour along the way, a detour of hope and eventual enlightenment. The final journey for all human beings will always end in death. The realisation that all human journeys must and do end in death and learning to live with the reality of this one fact in life is the major lesson learnt by those who experience the cancer journey. The journey is made more difficult and lonely by a society that wishes to fool itself that this journey does not happen or wishes to believe that one day this journey may be totally avoided. Society, and the people that make up society, need to face the reality of the cancer journey for many of its members in order to better prepare the person for the journey and to support the person while on this journey.

The use of behavioral therapies, such as relaxation therapy, is well documented in the literature as an intervention which may control some of the symptoms and symptom distress associated with the use of chemotherapy within the experience of cancer. However, over 50% of individuals with cancer are also treated with radiation therapy, either alone or in combination with chemotherapy. Individuals being treated with radiation therapy experience symptoms and related distress similar to those associated with chemotherapy as well as a loss of personal control. The purpose of this study was to determine the effect of relaxation therapy on symptom distress and personal control as perceived by adults receiving abdominal/pelvic external radiation treatment for a diagnosis of cancer. A quasiexperimental design, the nonequivalent control-group, was used to achieve the purpose of this study. It was hypothesized that the daily use of relaxation therapy by individuals receiving radiation therapy would decrease the amount of symptom distress and increase the amount of personal control perceived. The sample consisted of twenty eight individuals, fourteen in the control group and fourteen in the intervention group. Data were gathered by interview, two sets of questionnaires, and written diaries. The interview was done before the participants began their radiation treatment. The questionnaires were also completed at this time and then again three weeks after the treatment began. A diary was kept by those in the intervention group who were also taught a specific relaxation technique and asked to record the number of times they used the technique and any comments. To answer the two hypotheses, summary statistics were used. The results indicated that individuals who used relaxation therapy perceived a decreased amount of symptom distress than those in the control group. The Mann-Whitney U Test indicated that this difference was at the .05 level of significance. On this basis the first hypothesis was accepted. The results also indicated that there was no significant difference between the groups in the amount of perceived personal control. On this basis, the second hypothesis was not accepted. A recommendation based on this research study was for nurses to become knowledgeable in the use of relaxation techniques. Further research to better understand the cancer experience in relation to personal control was also recommended to enable nurses to provide appropriate and effective care to these individuals. / Applied Science, Faculty of / Nursing, School of / Graduate

This study explores the facilitation of preparation for breast cancer surgery. The aim of the study was to develop a reasonably comprehensive scheme of categories that would describe, from the perspective of women with breast cancer, what facilitates or hinders positive psychological preparation for breast cancer surgery and, therefore, identify and conceptually organize a broad array of these experiences. The research method involved interviews with 30 women who underwent an operation for breast cancer 6-12 months prior to their interviews. The Critical Incident Technique was used to collect and analyze the data. The women were interviewed and asked to recall incidents that were helpful or hindering in their preparation for a breast cancer surgery. A total of 362 incidents from 30 participants were collected, analyzed, and placed into categories. These incidents were organized into twenty-three categories: Receiving Educational Materials and/or Information; Obtaining an Explanation of Medical Procedures or Problems; Discussing Problems with Loved One; Getting Support and Encouragement from Others; Being Accompanied to a Medical Appointment; Helping Others; Engaging Oneself in Physical and Creative Activities; Developing Helpful Habits; Taking Action on Realizing Own Mortality; Experiencing Physical Closeness; Experiencing Deep Emotional Closeness; Realizing Shift in Relationship with Loved Ones; Healing Through Spiritual Experience and Visualization; Changing Perspective Through Comparison; Using Inspiring, Comforting Material; Getting Alternative Treatment; Establishing Professional Communication; Waiting for Medical Results; Sharing Experiences in Support Groups and Counseling; Perceiving Professional Manners; Experiencing Positive Medical Settings; Getting a Recommendation/Approval of Medical Personnel, Questioning Competence of Medical Care or Personnel. The data also included information about participants' decision-making process regarding the type of operation for breast cancer and some observations on them were drawn. Several procedures were used to examine validity, soundness and trustworthiness of the categories and subcategories. Three narrative accounts were analyzed in an effort to provide meaning and action to these categories. The findings of this study may serve as a basis for better understanding of the process of preparation for breast cancer surgery. Through further examination of the categories and narratives some suggestions and recommendation for research and practice were made. / Education, Faculty of / Educational and Counselling Psychology, and Special Education (ECPS), Department of / Graduate

This study proposed that a major function of coping is to regain perceptions of control that are threatened by the cancer experience and that perceived control mediates the relationship between coping and adjustment. Participants were 258 cancer patients, 61 % women and 39% men, aged 29 to 93 years. A variety of cancer sites were represented with breast and prostate cancer the most prevalent. Patterns of coping, perceived control in four areas (symptom-emotion, relationship, medical care, and disease control), and emotional adjustment were measured. It was expected that a sixth pattern of coping, problem-focused, would emerge when additional problem-focused items were added to the Ways of Coping-Cancer inventory. However, the expected problem-focused pattern was not distinct from the seek and use social support pattern. It was suggested that seeking and using social support may be a problem-focused strategy when dealing with relationships that are altered by the cancer experience. The study provided some support for the notion that symptom-emotion control has a greater influence than disease control on emotional adjustment as measured by the bipolar Profile of Mood States. However, all four areas of perceived control made substantial contributions to emotional adjustment. The findings only partially supported the proposed model in which perceived control mediated the relationship between coping and adjustment. All five patterns of coping influenced perceived control, and perceived control was strongly associated with emotional adjustment. The cognitive escape-avoidant pattern of coping exerted an indirect (mediated) influence on emotional adjustment through perceived control. The behavioral escape-avoidant and focus on the positive patterns exerted both indirect and direct influences on emotional adjustment. While social support and distancing coping patterns were not predictive of emotional adjustment, they did predict perceived control. It was suggested that efforts to bolster cancer patients' emotional adjustment should focus on both teaching positive coping strategies and on efforts to increase perceptions of control.

The researchers in this study are concerned about what factors are involved in determining who actually does seek out adjunctive counseling for help in dealing with their diagnosis. In particular, personality factors of those who have cancer are examined. The more known about what motivates a patient to seek counseling, the easier it will be to develop rehabilitation and supportive programs to meet the needs of cancer patients. Hence, sanction for a research project such as this lies in the fact that the question of motivation regarding adjunctive counseling has not been dealt with specifically in the past.

No description available.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Half of those who are diagnosed with cancer in any given year are over age 65. Approximately 3.1 million males and 2.3 million females over age 65 became ill with cancer in 2000. The purpose of this study was to investigate the psychosocial experience of the older adult with cancer to enable social workers to better serve this population. It is not clear from previous research whether their lived experience in adapting to cancer is different from that of younger persons. Thirteen older adults with cancer were interviewed in-depth along with a focus group of three oncology social workers.

Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis (IUPUI) / Research has shown that adolescents with cancer (AWC) face treatment that is complex, invasive, and onerous. Coming during a time with major developmental changes, it brings the potential of making high demands on the coping capacity of these adolescents. Using the theoretical frameworks of stress and coping, life-span development and Haase's (1996) Adolescent Resilience Model (ARM), this study explored the influences of social support and family environment on coping for AWC.