Greek women diagnosed with breast cancer reported on their coping efforts and levels of distress the day before surgery, 3 days after surgery, and 3 months later. Acceptance and humor were negatively related to distress at all three time points, whereas denial and emotional expression were positively related to distress post-surgery and 3 months later. The relationship between patterns of coping and distress was also examined. Specifically, participants who used emotion-focused engagement coping at pre-surgery, that is, acceptance or emotional expression combined with social support, experienced less distress 3 months later than participants who did not use any emotionfocused engagement coping. Finally, flexibility, defined as the use of multiple coping strategies, was found to negatively predict distress. The results indicate that pre-surgery use of emotion-focused engagement coping can be adaptive and that the adaptiveness of each strategy may vary as the stressor evolves.

Despite increased interest among the public in breast cancer genetic risk and genetic testing, there are limited services to help women make informed decisions about genetic testing. This study, conducted with female callers (N = 279) to the National Cancer Institute's (NCI's) Atlantic Region Cancer Information Service (CIS), developed and evaluated a theory-based, educational intervention designed to increase callers' understanding of the following: (a) the kinds of information required to determine inherited risk; (b) their own personal family history of cancer; and (c) the benefits and limitations of genetic testing. Callers requesting information about breast/ovarian cancer risk, risk assessment services, and genetic testing were randomized to either: (1) standard care or (2) an educational intervention. Results show that the educational intervention reduced intention to obtain genetic testing among women at average risk and increased intention among high-risk women at 6 months. In addition, high monitors, who typically attend to and seek information, demonstrated greater increases in knowledge and perceived risk over the 6-month interval than low monitors, who typically are distracted from information. These findings suggest that theoretically designed interventions can be effective in helping women understand their cancer risk and appropriate risk assessment options and can be implemented successfully within a service program like the CIS.

Building on the Cognitive-Social Health Information-Processing model, this paper provides a theoretically guided review of monitoring (i.e., attend to and amplify) cancer-related threats. Specifically, the goals of the review are to examine whether individuals high on monitoring are characterized by specific cognitive, affective, and behavioral responses to cancer-related health threats than individuals low on monitoring and the implications of these cognitive-affective responses for patient-centered outcomes, including patient-physician communication, decision-making and the development of interventions to promote adherence and adjustment. A total of 74 reports were found, based on 63 studies, 13 of which were intervention studies. The results suggest that although individuals high on monitoring are more knowledgeable about health threats, they are less satisfied with the information provided. Further, they tend to be characterized by greater perceived risk, more negative beliefs, and greater value of health-related information and experience more negative affective outcomes. Finally, individuals high on monitoring tend to be more demanding of the health providers in terms of desire for more information and emotional support, are more assertive during decision-making discussions, and subsequently experience more decisional regret. Psychoeducational interventions improve outcomes when the level and type of information provided is consistent with the individual's monitoring style and the demands of the specific health threat. Implications for patient-centered outcomes, in terms of tailoring of interventions, patient-provider communication, and decision-making, are discussed.

Purpose Lymphedema affects 20-30% of women following breast cancer treatment. However, even when women are informed, they do not necessarily adhere to recommended lymphedema self-management regimens. Utilizing the Cognitive-Social Health Information Processing framework, we assessed cognitive and emotional factors influencing adherence to lymphedema risk management. Methods Women with breast cancer who had undergone breast and lymph node surgery were recruited through the Fox Chase Cancer Centre breast clinic. Participants (N=103) completed measures of lymphedema-related perceived risk, beliefs and expectancies, distress, self-regulatory ability to manage distress, knowledge, and adherence to risk management behaviors. They then received the American Cancer Society publication “Lymphedema: What Every Woman with Breast Cancer Should Know”. Cognitive and affective variables were reassessed at 6- and 12-months post-baseline. Results Maximum likelihood multilevel model analyses indicated that overall adherence increased over time, with significant differences between baseline and 6- and 12- month assessments. Adherence to wearing gloves was significantly lower than that for all other behaviors except electric razor use. Distress significantly decreased, and knowledge significantly increased, over time. Greater knowledge, higher self-efficacy to enact behaviors, lower distress, and higher self-regulatory ability to manage distress were associated with increased adherence. Conclusions Women who understand lymphedema risk management and feel confident in managing this risk are more likely to adhere to recommended strategies. These factors should be rigorously assessed as part of routine care to ensure that women have the self-efficacy to seek treatment and the self-regulatory skills to manage distress, which may undermine attempts to seek medical assistance.

Children's disposition to monitor for threat-relevant cues predicted their coping strategies and levels of distress when dealing with invasive dental work. High monitors reported that they had engaged in greater sensory vigilance and avoidance strategies during treatment. Neither the tendency to monitor nor children's sensory vigilance was related to videotape observations of their attention deployment. High monitors reported increased anxiety and were rated as more anxious, particularly when they also engaged in high avoidance. Children's reports of question asking were related to videotape observations of question asking. In addition, children who asked more questions were rated as more anxious and disruptive during treatment. Individual differences in how children deal with a familiar--but largely uncontrollable--stressor are discussed, particularly with respect to the encounter phase of coping.