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PARTNERS OF BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS:
RESEARCH PARTICIPATION
AND
UNDERSTANDING OF SURVIVORS’ CONCERNS
by
Kysa Marie Christie
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(PSYCHOLOGY)
December 2011
Copyright 2011 Kysa Marie Christie
Object Description
| Title | Partners of breast cancer survivors: Research participation and understanding of survivors' concerns |
| Author | Christie, Kysa Marie |
| Author email | kysachristie@hotmail.com;kysachristie@hotmail.com |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | Psychology |
| School | College of Letters, Arts And Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2011-09-07 |
| Date submitted | 2011-10-18 |
| Date approved | 2011-10-18 |
| Restricted until | 2011-10-18 |
| Date published | 2011-10-18 |
| Advisor (committee chair) | Meyerowitz, Beth E. |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Margolin, Gayla John, Richard Aranda, Maria |
| Abstract | The majority of studies about adjustment to cancer focus only on the perspectives of the individual with cancer, and overlook the contributions made by those in the survivor’s social network. This dissertation examines post-treatment adjustment of breast cancer survivors and contributions to adjustment from survivors’ male partners. It is presented as two manuscripts. Both studies derive from the Moving Beyond Cancer (MBC) intervention study and a second study of the male partners of the MBC participants. ❧ The first study (Chapter 1) addresses methodological limitations common in research on couples, namely, low rates of participation, and a lack of understanding about how representative couples are of the larger population. This study examined demographic, treatment, relationship and quality of life characteristics associated with recruitment and retention of partners of breast cancer survivors from the MBC intervention study. Of 384 partnered survivors who participated in the MBC intervention study, 280 provided consent for their partners to be contacted, 193 partners completed the initial study questionnaire, and 164 partners completed both study questionnaires. Backward stepwise logistic regression indicated that greater family income, and support from a partner or helpful other increased the likelihood that the survivor would consent to have her partner contacted (χ2 = 56.93, p<.001). Greater family income, better survivor physical and emotional quality of life, and non-Hispanic White ethnicity increased the likelihood of partner participation (χ2 = 30.30, p<.001). The model predicting partner retention from the first to second questionnaire was non-significant (χ2 = 30.30, p<.001). The results indicate that ethnic minorities and individuals with lower SES and poorer physical and mental quality of life are less likely to be included in psycho-oncology couple’s research. ❧ The second study (Chapter 2) examines emotional adjustment following breast cancer treatment from a couples’ perspective. In this longitudinal study of 153 couples, I examined partner understanding of fatigue and fear of recurrence among breast cancer survivors during the post-treatment period, and if partner understanding contributed to survivor emotional adjustment. Partner’s perception of survivor’s fatigue and fear of recurrence did not significantly differ from the survivor’s own rating four months post-treatment (T1), but by eight months post-treatment (T2), partners perceived survivors to have significantly greater fatigue and fear of recurrence than the survivors reported. An interaction effect was found at T1 such that among survivors with low levels of fatigue, partner perception of fatigue was not associated with survivor emotional adjustment. However, for survivors with high levels of fatigue, survivors whose partners perceived them to have high fatigue had worse emotional adjustment than survivors whose partners rated them low on fatigue. Partner under- and overestimation of survivor fear and fatigue were associated with survivor positive affect. Finally, the study also examined partner’s own fear of recurrence. Average partner fear of recurrence remained constant over time, and was associated with less positive affect in the survivor within T1 and T2. Results suggest that while the partner’s perspective of the survivor’s symptoms makes a limited contribution to survivor adjustment, his own fear is detrimental to her positive mood. |
| Keyword | breast cancer; partners; psychosocial adjustment; fear of recurrence; fatigue |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Rights | Christie, Kysa Marie |
| Access conditions | The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the author, as the original true and official version of the work, but does not grant the reader permission to use the work if the desired use is covered by copyright. It is the author, as rights holder, who must provide use permission if such use is covered by copyright. The original signature page accompanying the original submission of the work to the USC Libraries is retained by the USC Libraries and a copy of it may be obtained by authorized requesters contacting the repository e-mail address given. |
| Repository name | University of Southern California Digital Library |
| Repository address | USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 7002, 106 University Village, Los Angeles, California 90089-7002, USA |
| Repository email | cisadmin@usc.edu |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume71/etd-ChristieKy-350.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Contributing entity | University of Southern California |
| Full text | PARTNERS OF BREAST CANCER SURVIVORS: RESEARCH PARTICIPATION AND UNDERSTANDING OF SURVIVORS’ CONCERNS by Kysa Marie Christie A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE USC GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (PSYCHOLOGY) December 2011 Copyright 2011 Kysa Marie Christie |
