L9

Question 1

Which social groups are chronic conditions most common in?

Answer 1

lower-income, Canadians, women, and seniors

Question 2

What happens in the initial response to the diagnosis of a chronic disease?

Answer 2

patients are in a state of crisis or shock, anxiety, anger, and lower sense of control; engage in secondary appraisal and emotion-focused coping (e.g. denial)

Question 3

Denial

Answer 3

inability to recognize, accept, or deal; plays a mixed role (i.e. only beneficial early on as it serves as a protective buffer)

Question 4

Crisis theory

Answer 4

describes factors that influence how people adjust or cope after first learning about their chronic illness

Question 5

3 kinds of factors that affect the coping process (crisis theory)

Answer 5

illness-related factors; background, personal factors; physical/social environments

Question 6

What activities are involved in the coping process?

Answer 6

appraisal, adaptive tasks, and coping skills

Question 7

2 types of adaptive tasks people with an illness must address

Answer 7

tasks related to the illness or treatment and tasks related to general psychosocial functioning

Question 8

Examples of tasks related to the illness or treatment

Answer 8

coping with the symptoms or disability of illness; adjusting to the hospital environment, procedures, treatments; developing good relationships with practitioners

Question 9

Examples of tasks related to general psychosocial functioning

Answer 9

controlling negative feelings and having a positive outlook; maintaining a satisfactory self-image and sense of competence; preserving good relationships; preparing for an uncertain future

Question 10

5 coping strategies found most useful by cancer patients

Answer 10

social support/direct problem solving, distancing, positive focus, cognitive escape/avoidance, behavioral escape/avoidance

Question 11

3 maladaptive coping strategies

Answer 11

rumination, interpersonal withdrawal, avoidant coping

Question 12

What is rumination associated with?

Answer 12

exacerbation of symptoms

Question 13

What is interpersonal withdrawal associated with?

Answer 13

loneliness and low relationship satisfaction

Question 14

What is avoidant coping (e.g. denial) associated with?

Answer 14

increased psychological distress, exacerbation of the disease process, poor adjustment to illness

Question 15

Kinds of denial shown by cancer patients

Answer 15

denial of diagnosis, impact/outcomes, and emotions

Question 16

Distractive strategies

Answer 16

activities that take one’s mind off their diagnosis; found to reduce distress

Question 17

Passive escape mechanisms

Answer 17

not confronting or thinking about the diagnosis; decreases psychological well-being

Question 18

Characteristics of cancer patients who self-blame

Answer 18

higher levels of depression over time, more distress, and lower quality of life

Question 19

Depression

Answer 19

feelings of sadness, despair, helplessness, hopelessness

Question 20

Effect of depression on patients

Answer 20

may be delayed as patients try to understand implications of condition; physically debilitating and has a direct impact on symptoms; leads to poorer adjustment to illness

Question 21

Social challenges cancer patients experience

Answer 21

difficulty seeing family/friends; feeling socially awkward or embarrassed about their condition

Question 22

Social challenges others (e.g. caregivers) experience

Answer 22

avoiding the patient due to feelings of vulnerability; worrying they’ll say the wrong thing or break down emotionally

Question 23

Main factors in the experience of cancer stigma

Answer 23

perceived controllability and visibility of the cancer, and whether it interferes

Question 24

Adaption

Answer 24

the process of making changes in order to adjust constructively to life’s circumstances

Question 25

Examples of adaptive tasks for successful adjustment to chronic illnesses

Answer 25

mastery of demands related to ongoing management of the disease; minimizing physical limitations and disability; preserving as much positive functioning as possible

Question 26

Quality of life

Answer 26

the degree of excellence people appraise their lives to contain based on physical, psychological, vocational, and social functioning; an important indicator of recovery from/adjustment to chronic illness

Question 27

Where activities are emphasized in QoL?

Answer 27

daily living (e.g. sleeping, eating, going to work)

Question 28

What is an important aspect of evaluating QoL?

Answer 28

a person's perceptions of their own health (i.e. self-reported/self-rated/subjective health)

Question 29

5 psychosocial interventions for chronic illness

Answer 29

psychopharmacology, patient and family education, individual or family therapy, stress management/relaxation, support groups

Question 30

Immediate psychosocial benefits of support groups

Answer 30

improved mood, reduced uncertainty, improved self-esteem, enhanced coping skills, improved quality of life

Question 31

Informal caregiving

Answer 31

the provision of physical/emotional care to a family member or friend at home; a chronic stressor

Question 32

Factors in caregiver stress

Answer 32

not having enough time to care for oneself; feeling overwhelmed; engaging in unhealthy behaviors due to lack of time; disrupted or insufficient sleep; poor stress management and prevention; degrading social relationships and poor support

Question 33

Health costs of caregiving

Answer 33

higher levels of depression and physical health problems, abnormalities in measures of endocrine and immune system function, premature mortality for spouse caregivers who reported strain

Question 34

Benefits of caregiving

Answer 34

providing the best care possible; staying connected or becoming closer; sense of accomplishment from giving back to someone who has cared for them; sense of meaning or purpose; passing on tradition of care in family; learning new skills

Question 35

At which point of a terminal illness is denial and acceptance more common?

Answer 35

denial is more common early on and acceptance is more common closer to death

Question 36

Clinical pain

Answer 36

any pain that receives or requires professional care, either acute or chronic

Question 37

2 ways physicians reduce pain

Answer 37

chemically and surgically

Question 38

2 methods for administering painkilling chemicals

Answer 38

epidural block and patient-controlled analgesia

Question 39

5 advantages of group psychotherapy over individual therapy in treating pain

Answer 39

efficiency; reduced isolation; credible feedback; new reference group; different perspective for therapist

Question 40

2 goals of operant approach to treating pain

Answer 40

reduce the patient's reliance on medication and the disability that accompanies chronic pain conditions

Question 41

In vivo exposure

Answer 41

patient engages in feared activities repeatedly to reduce pain fears, catastrophizing, and increase activity

Question 42

3 types of active coping

Answer 42

distraction, imagery, redefinition

Question 43

Distraction

Answer 43

nonpainful stimulus in the immediate environment to divert one's attention from discomfort

Question 44

3 aspects that affect distraction's effectiveness

Answer 44

amount of attention required; how interesting a task is; task's credibility to the person

Question 45

Nonpain imagery

Answer 45

conjuring up a mental scene unrelated to the pain in order to alleviate it

Question 46

Pain redefinition

Answer 46

substituting constructive or realistic thoughts about the pain for one's that arouse feelings of threat or harm

Question 47

Asthma triggers

Answer 47

personal factors, environmental conditions (e.g. allergens), physical activities

Question 48

Factors of asthma

Answer 48

heredity, history of respiratory infection, exposure to cigarette smoke

Question 49

What induces asthma symptoms?

Answer 49

stress (e.g. interpersonal conflict), anxiety, catastrophizing, low self-efficacy, suggestion (e.g. placebo of allergens)

Question 50

Factors that worsen and improve adjustment to epilepsy

Answer 50

stigma; optimism, social support, sense of control

Question 51

2 psychosocial factors related to compliance

Answer 51

social support and self-efficacy

Question 52

Adjustment problems in chronic illness

Answer 52

physical, vocational, self-concept, social, emotional, compliance

Question 53

3 links between heart disease and negative emotions

Answer 53

less healthful lifestyles; increased physiological reactivity; shared genetic factors that increase vulnerability

Question 54

Cardiac invalidism

Answer 54

people with heart disease become increasingly dependent and helpless