Psychological distress and quality of life in lung cancer: The role of health-related stigma, illness appraisals and social constraints

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Author(s)
Chambers, Suzanne K
Baade, Peter
Youl, Philippa
Aitken, Joanne
Occhipinti, Stefano
Vinod, Shalini
Valery, Patricia C
Garvey, Gail
Fong, Kwun M
Ball, David
Zorbas, Helen
Dunn, Jeff
O'Connell, Dianne L
Griffith University Author(s)
Year published
2015
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Show full item recordAbstract
Objective: Health-related stigma is associated with negative psychological and quality of life outcomes in lung
cancer patients. Thisstudy describes the impact of stigma on lung cancer patients’ psychological distress and
quality of life and explores the role of social constraints and illness appraisal as mediators of effect.
Methods: A self-administered cross-sectional survey examined psychological distress and quality of
life in 151 people (59% response rate) diagnosed with lung cancer from Queensland and New South
Wales. Health-related stigma, social constraints and illness appraisals were assessed as predictors of
adjustment ...
View more >Objective: Health-related stigma is associated with negative psychological and quality of life outcomes in lung cancer patients. Thisstudy describes the impact of stigma on lung cancer patients’ psychological distress and quality of life and explores the role of social constraints and illness appraisal as mediators of effect. Methods: A self-administered cross-sectional survey examined psychological distress and quality of life in 151 people (59% response rate) diagnosed with lung cancer from Queensland and New South Wales. Health-related stigma, social constraints and illness appraisals were assessed as predictors of adjustment outcomes. Results: Forty-nine percent of patients reported elevated anxiety; 41% were depressed; and 51% had high global distress. Health-related stigma was significantly related to global psychological distress and quality of life with greater stigma and shame related to poorer outcomes. These effects were mediated by illness appraisals and social constraints. Conclusions: Health-related stigma appears to contribute to poorer adjustment by constraining interpersonal discussions about cancer and heightening feelings of threat. There is a need for the development and evaluation of interventions to ameliorate the negative effects of health-related stigma among lung cancer patients.
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View more >Objective: Health-related stigma is associated with negative psychological and quality of life outcomes in lung cancer patients. Thisstudy describes the impact of stigma on lung cancer patients’ psychological distress and quality of life and explores the role of social constraints and illness appraisal as mediators of effect. Methods: A self-administered cross-sectional survey examined psychological distress and quality of life in 151 people (59% response rate) diagnosed with lung cancer from Queensland and New South Wales. Health-related stigma, social constraints and illness appraisals were assessed as predictors of adjustment outcomes. Results: Forty-nine percent of patients reported elevated anxiety; 41% were depressed; and 51% had high global distress. Health-related stigma was significantly related to global psychological distress and quality of life with greater stigma and shame related to poorer outcomes. These effects were mediated by illness appraisals and social constraints. Conclusions: Health-related stigma appears to contribute to poorer adjustment by constraining interpersonal discussions about cancer and heightening feelings of threat. There is a need for the development and evaluation of interventions to ameliorate the negative effects of health-related stigma among lung cancer patients.
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Journal Title
Psycho-Oncology
Volume
24
Issue
11
Copyright Statement
© 2015 The Authors. Psycho-Oncology Published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivs License, which permits use and distribution in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited, the use is non-commercial and no modifications or adaptations are made.
Subject
Clinical sciences
Oncology and carcinogenesis
Oncology and carcinogenesis not elsewhere classified