In this study, 105 abused and nonabused women were examined for patterns of adult psychopathology associated with childhood sexual abuse and to test the extent to which these patterns are independent of other pathogenic properties of the family environment. Clinical and nonclinical Ss completed the Family Environment Scale, the Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory (MMPI), the Rorschach, and the Stanford Hypnotic Susceptibility Scale. Greater nonspecific impairment among abused women may be a consequence, at least in part, of pathogenic family structure rather than sexual abuse per se. However, MMPI and Rorschach responses suggest sexual abuse may render victims especially vulnerable to specific disturbances i involving soma and self. Abuse was associated with greater use of dissociation, but covariance analysis revealed this effect to be accounted for by family pathology. There was no evidence that sexual trauma is associated with hypnotizability.

It was found that patients with cancer who used spiritual coping to a greater extent were less likely to have a living will and more likely to desire life-sustaining measures. If efforts aimed at improving end-of-life care are to be successful, they must take into account the complex interplay of ethnicity and spirituality as they shape patients' views and preferences around end of life.

Purpose/Objectives The National Comprehensive Cancer Network’s Distress Thermometer (DT) has been adopted as a screening measure to identify and address psychological distress in individuals with cancer. The purpose of the present study was to establish an optimal cut off point in a large heterogeneous sample of cancer patients. A secondary purpose of the study was to examine whether distress as measured by the DT significantly changes across the treatment trajectory (i.e., diagnosis, on treatment, survivorship). Design The present investigation includes secondary analyses of baseline data from a longitudinal parent study examining a computerized psychosocial assessment. Setting Recruitment occurred at three diverse comprehensive cancer centers across the United States. Sample Eight hundred and thirty-six patients at 3 different comprehensive cancer centers with a current or past diagnosis of cancer were enrolled. Main Research Variables The BHS (Behavioral Health Status) index, as well as the DT were administered and compared using ROC analyses. Findings Results support a cutoff score of 3 on the DT to indicate patients with clinically elevated levels of distress. Further, patients who received a diagnosis within the 1-4 weeks prior to the assessment endorsed the highest levels of distress. Conclusions Providers may wish to utilize a cutoff point of 3 to most efficiently identify distress in a large, diverse population of cancer patients. Further, results indicate that patients may experience a heightened state of distress within the 1-4 weeks post-diagnosis as compared to other stages of coping with cancer. Implications for Nursing It is widely understood that nurses carry a heavy burden regarding patient care. It is often a nurse’s responsibility to screen for psychosocial distress, and using a brief technological measure of distress can help streamline this process.

The Think Health! study evaluated a behavioral weight loss program adapted from the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP) lifestyle intervention to assist primary care providers (PCPs) and auxiliary staff acting as lifestyle coaches (LCs) in offering weight loss counseling to their patients. In a randomized trial conducted at five clinical sites, study participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio within each site to either “Basic Plus” (n = 137), which offered PCP counseling every 4 months plus monthly LC visits during the first year of treatment, or “Basic” (n = 124), which offered only PCP counseling every 4 months. Participants were primarily (84%) female, 65% African American, 16% Hispanic American, and 19% white. In the 72% of participants in each treatment group with a 12‐month weight measurement, mean (95% CI) 1‐year weight changes (kg) were −1.61 (−2.68, −0.53) in Basic Plus and −0.62 (−1.45, 0.20) in Basic (difference: 0.98 (−0.36, 2.33); P = 0.15). Results were similar in model‐based estimates using all available weight data for randomized participants, adjusting for potential confounders. More Basic Plus (22.5%) than Basic (10.2%) participants lost ≥5% of their baseline weight (P = 0.022). In a descriptive, nonrandomized analysis that also considered incomplete visit attendance, mean weight change was −3.3 kg in Basic Plus participants who attended ≥5 LC visits vs. + 0.53 kg in those attending <5 LC visits. We conclude that the Basic Plus approach of moderate‐intensity counseling by PCPs and their staff can facilitate modest weight loss, with clinically significant weight loss in high program attenders.