Doctoral Dissertations

Date of Award

5-1996

Degree Type

Dissertation

Degree Name

Doctor of Philosophy

Major

Education

Major Professor

Robert Williams

Committee Members

Mark Hector, Gary Klukken, Howard Pollio

Abstract

This study investigated relationships among indicators of preventive mental health and functional quality of life for current and former cancer patients. Three groups were selected from participants in The Wellness Community (TWC), a psychosocial support program for cancer patients and their families. One group included newly diagnosed cancer patients who were new participants in TWC. A second group consisted of TWC participants who had been active in TWC program for a period of approximately four months to one year. A third group was designed to include participants of TWC who had been cancer free for at least two years or who had not received treatment for cancer during the past two years. The composition of this latter group included individuals who were still being treated, though the group as a whole was comprised of long-term TWC participants. Research participants included individuals from TWC programs in the Western, Midwestern, and Southeastern United States.

Mental health measures of interest included: a) Social Provisions Scale (SPS), b) Life Orientation Test (LOT), and c) Life Style Approaches (LSA). The measure of functional quality of life was the The Functional Living Index- Cancer (FLI-C). Published literature on each of these instruments suggests each is a reliable and valid measure of its respective domain of interest.

Two classes of research questions were addressed in the study: (a) Are there any differences between two-year survivors, six-month participants, and newly diagnosed persons with respect to preventive variables? (b) To what extent are social support, optimism, and self-management related to quality of life across all three groups?

Data analysis proceeded in three stages. First, multivariate analyses were performed on mental health and quality of life variables across the three groups. Second, partial correlations controlling for age were performed between scores on the SPS, FLI-C, LOT, and LSA. Third, regression analyses were used to examine the relative contributions to functional quality of life by social support, optimism, and self management, respectively.

Differences among the three groups with respect to the variables of interest were not found by multivariate analyses. Repeated measures analysis of subgroup group one participants indicated a trend towards significant changes in social support over time. In the correlational analyses, partialling out age was found to minimally alter the relationships among SPS, FLI-C, LOT, and LSA. Older respondents tended to have higher FLI-C scores. Significant positive correlations were found between FLI-C and LOT, FLI-C and SPS, SPS and LOT, and LOT and LSA. Multiple regression analyses were supportive of an additive model, with SPS and LOT as predictor variables and FLI-C as a criterion variable.

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