A literature review of the impact of a monitoring coping style on psychological adjustment in people with real or potentially life threatening illness and An investigation of psychological adjustment and coping style in patients undergoing bone marrow/stem cell transplantation

Abstract

Volume I contains a literature review and an empirical paper.
The literature review, which is presented first, reviews recent findings for a relationship between informational coping style and psychological adjustment in patients confronted with potential or real life threatening illness. Empirical data is systematically reviewed within the theoretical framework of Miller's (1995) Monitoring Process Model. Suggestions are made for future research on order to develop effective interventions for those individuals who are most vulnerable to psychological, social, and emotional complications secondary to their illness.
The empirical paper examines psychological distress in patients undergoing stem cell transplantation in a prospective longitudinal design. Specific aims are to examine the degree of psychological distress over the course of transplantation, which pre-treatment demographic, medical and psychosocial factors predict psychological distress and adjustment after transplantation, and whether informational coping style was associated with distress levels before and after transplantation. The findings of this study illustrate the need for pre-treatment assessment and intervention, focusing on treatment related anxiety management, depression, and dysfunctional illness attributions which may help reduce post-treatment distress.
[Volume II contains a series of clinical practice reports and is not available online.]