Cancer diagnosis affects the psychological well-being of both patients and their partners, and effective coping has been suggested to be a conjoint process of mutual support. Ninety-four married women with early stage cancer and their partners were randomly assigned to couples-based coping training (CanCOPE), individual coping training for the woman, or a medical education control. Couples' observed support communication and self-reported psychological distress, coping effort, and sexual adjustment were assessed at diagnosis, after cancer surgery, and at 6- and 12-month follow-ups. CanCOPE produced significant improvements in couples' supportive communication, reduced psychological distress and coping effort, and improved sexual adjustment. Training in couples rather than individual coping was more effective in facilitating adaptation to cancer.
The construct of Psychological Capital (PsyCap) focuses on the positive psychological capacities of self‐efficacy, hope, optimism and resilience and their relationship with a range of desirable work attitudes, behaviours and organizational outcomes. There is now almost a decade of accumulated PsyCap research. However, a critical and synthesized analysis of the construct in terms of its theoretical conceptualization and psychometric properties is yet to appear in the literature. Consequently, this article aims to provide a comprehensive review and analysis of the PsyCap literature, focusing in particular on issues relevant to the psychometric profile of PsyCap as it is currently assessed. Six directives for advancing PsyCap research are proposed as part of an integrated research agenda aimed towards strengthening the conceptualization and measurement of PsyCap.
Practitioner points
This article provides a critical and synthesized psychometric‐focused review of the PsyCap construct and its application in the workplace.
Several shortcomings of the construct and its primary measure are highlighted.
Directives are proposed to further enhance the conceptualization and measurement of the construct and thus enhance its utility in the workplace.
In this pilot study, the couple-based intervention, RE, has shown promise in improving individual, medical, and relationship functioning for couples in which the woman is facing breast cancer, and therefore merits further investigation on a larger scale.
Objective Cancer is associated with negative health and emotional outcomes in those affected by it, suggesting the need to better understand the psychosocial determinants of illness outcomes and coping. The common sense model is the leading psychological model of selfregulation in the face of illness and assumes that subjective illness representations explain how people attempt to cope with illness. This systematic review and meta-analysis examines the associations of the common sense model's illness representation dimensions with health and coping outcomes in people with cancer.Methods A systematic literature search located 54 studies fulfilling the inclusion criteria, with 38 providing sufficient data for meta-analysis. A narrative review of the remaining studies was also conducted.Results Random-effects models revealed small to moderate effect sizes (Fisher Z) for the relations between illness representations and coping behaviors (in particular between control perceptions, problem-focused coping, and cognitive reappraisal) and moderate to large effect sizes between illness representations and illness outcomes (in particular between identity, consequences, emotional representations, and psychological distress). The narrative review of studies with insufficient data provided similar results.
ConclusionsThe results indicate how illness representations relate to illness outcomes in people with cancer. However, more high-quality studies are needed to examine causal effects of illness representations on coping and outcomes. High heterogeneity indicates potential moderators of the relationships between illness representations and health and coping outcomes, including diagnostic, prognostic, and treatment-related variables. This review can inform the design of interventions to improve coping strategies and mental health outcomes in people with cancer.
| Illness representations and the common sense modelThe common sense model of self-regulation of health and illness (CSM) 9 is a widely accepted psychological model of the processes underlying health and coping in people with chronic illness. According
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