Meaning and meaning making in cancer survivorship

The Human Quest for Meaning: Theories, Research, and Applications

Volumn , Issue , 2013, Pages 521-538

  Park, Crystal L ^a  

^a UNIVERSITY OF CONNECTICUT HEALTH CENTER   (United States)

Author keywords

[No Author keywords available]

Indexed keywords

EID: 84921540607     PISSN: None     EISSN: None     Source Type: Book    
DOI: 10.4324/9780203146286     Document Type: Chapter

References (93)

1. Aldwin, C. M. (2007). Stress, coping, and development: An integrative approach (2nd ed.). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
2. Andrykowski, M. A., Bishop, M. M., Hahn, E. A., Cella, D. F., Beaumont, J. L., Brady, M. J., Wingard, J. R. (2005). Long-term health-related quality of life, growth, and spiritual well-being aft er hematopoietic stem-cell transplantation. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 23, 599-608.
3. Baumeister, R. F. (1991). Meanings of life. New York, NY: Guilford Press.
4. Beisecker, A. E., Cook, M. R. Ashworth, J., Hayes, J., Brecheisen, M., Helmig, L., Selenke, D. (1997). Side effects of adjuvant chemotherapy: Perceptions of nodenegative breast cancer patients. Psycho-Oncology, 6, 85-93.
5. Bellizzi, K. M., & Blank, T. O. (2006). Predicting posttraumatic growth in breast cancer survivors. Health Psychology, 25, 47-56.
6. Bellizzi, K. M., & Blank, T. O. (2007). Cancer-related identity and positive affect in survivors of prostate cancer. Journal of Cancer Survivorship, 1, 44-48.
7. Bellizzi, K. M., Miller, M. F., Arora, N. K., & Rowland, J. H. (2007). Positive and negative life changes experienced by survivors of non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 34, 188-199.
8. Bennett, K. K., Compas, B. E., Beckjord, E., & Glinder, J. G. (2004). Self-blame and distress among women with newly diagnosed breast cancer. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 28, 313-323.
9. Bjorck, J. P., Hopp, D., & Jones, L. W. (1999). Prostate cancer and emotional functioning: Effects of mental adjustment, optimism, and appraisal. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 17, 71-85.
10. Blank, T. O., & Bellizzi, K. M. (2006). Aft er prostate cancer: Predictors of well-being among long-term prostate cancer survivors. Cancer, 106, 2128-2135.
11. Bower, J. E., Kemeny, M. E., Taylor, S. E., & Fahey, J. L. (1998). Cognitive processing, discovery of meaning, CD4 decline, and AIDS-related mortality among bereaved HIV-seropositive men. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 66, 979-986.
12. Bower, J.E., Meyerowitz, B. E., Desmond, K. A., Bernaards, C. A., Rowland, J. H., & Ganz, P. A. (2005). Perceptions of positive meaning and vulnerability following breast cancer: Predictors and outcomes among long-term breast cancer survivors. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 29, 236-245.
13. Breitbart, W., Gibson, C., Poppito, S. R., & Berg, A. (2004). Psychotherapeutic interventions at the end of life: A focus on meaning and spirituality. Canadian Journal of Psychiatry, 49, 366-372.
14. Brennan, J. (2001). Adjustment to cancer-coping or personal transition?. Psycho-Oncology, 10, 1-18.
15. Broeckel, J. A., Jacobsen, P. B., Lodovico, B., Horton, J., & Lyman, G. H. (2000). Quality of life aft er adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer. Breast Cancer Research and Treatment, 62, 141-150.
16. Carver, C. S. (2005). Enhancing adaptation during treatment and the role of individual differences. Cancer, 104, 2602-2607.
17. Carver, C. S., & Antoni, M. H. (2004). Finding benefit in breast cancer during the year aft er diagnosis predicts better adjustment 5 to 8 years aft er diagnosis. Health Psychology, 23, 595-598.
18. Chan, T. H.Y., Ho, R. T. H., & Chan, C. L. W. (2007). Developing an outcome measurement for meaning-making intervention with Chinese cancer patients. Psycho-Oncology, 16, 843-850.
19. Collie, K. K., & Long, B. C. (2005). Considering “meaning” in the context of breast cancer. Journal of Health Psychology, 10, 843-853.
20. Cordova, M. J., Cunningham, L. L. C., Carlson, C. R., & Andrykowski, M. A. (2001). Posttraumatic growth following breast cancer: A controlled comparison study. Health Psychology, 20, 176-185.
21. Costanzo, E. S., Lutgendorf, S. K., Bradley, S. L., Rose, S. L., & Anderson, B. (2005). Cancer attributions, distress, and health practices among gynecologic cancer survivors. Psychosomatic Medicine, 67, 972-980.
22. Davis, C. G., Nolen-Hoeksema, S., & Larson, J. (1998). Making sense of loss and benefiting from the experience: Two construals of meaning. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 75, 561-574.
23. Degner, L., Hack, T., O’Neil, J., & Kristjanson, L. J. (2003). A new approach to eliciting meaning in the context of breast cancer. Cancer Nursing, 26, 169-178.
24. Deimling, G. T., Bowman, K. F., & Wagner, L. J. (2007). Cancer survivorship and identity among long-term survivors. Cancer Investigation, 25, 758-765.
25. Deimling, G., Kahana, B., & Schumacher, J. (1997). Life threatening illness: The transition from victim to survivor. Journal of Aging and Identity, 2, 165-186.
26. Demark-Wahnefried, W., Aziz, N., Rowland, J., & Pinto, B. M. (2005). Riding the crest of the teachable moment: Promoting long-term health aft er the diagnosis of cancer. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 23, 5814-5830.
27. Dirksen, S. R. (1995). Search for meaning in long-term cancer survivors. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 21, 628-633.
28. Foley, K. L., Farmer, D. F., Petronis, V. M., Smith, R. G., McGraw, S., Smith, K., Avis, N. (2006). A qualitative exploration of the cancer experience among long-term survivors: Comparisons by cancer type, ethnicity, gender, and age. Psycho-Oncology, 15, 248-258.
29. Friedman, L. C., Romero, C., Elledge, R., Chang, J., Kalidas, M., Dulay, M. F., Osborne, C. K. (2007). Attribution of blame, self-forgiving attitude and psychological adjustment in women with breast cancer. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 30, 351-357.
30. Gall, T. L. (2004). Relationship with God and the quality of life of prostate cancer survivors. Quality of Life Research, 13, 1357-1368.
31. Ganz, P. A., Kwan, L., Stanton, A. L., Krupnick, J. L., Rowland, J. H., Meyerowitz, B. E., Belin, T. R. (2004). Quality of life at the end of primary treatment of breast cancer: First results from the moving beyond cancer randomized trial. Journal of the National Cancer Institute, 96, 376-387.
32. Gillies, J., & Neimeyer, R. A. (2006). Loss, grief, and the search for significance: Toward a model of meaning reconstruction in bereavement. Journal of Constructivist Psychology, 19, 31-65.
33. Glinder, J. G., & Compas, B. E. (1999). Self-blame attributions in women with newly diagnosed breast cancer: A prospective study of psychological adjustment. Health Psychology, 18, 475-481.
34. Gotay, C. C. (1985). Why me? Attributions and adjustment by cancer patients and their mates at two stages in the disease process. Social Science and Medicine, 20, 825-831.
35. Greenberg, M. A. (1995). Cognitive processing of traumas: The role of intrusive thoughts and reappraisals. Journal of Applied Social Psychology, 25, 1262-1296.
36. Hewitt, M., Greenfield, S., & Stovall, E. (Eds.). (2005). From cancer patient to cancer survivor: Lost in transition. Washington, DC: Institute of Medicine.
37. Holland, J. C., & Reznik, I. (2005). Pathways for psychosocial care of cancer survivors. Cancer, 704, 2624-2637.
38. Horowitz, M. J. (2001). Stress response syndromes: Personality styles and interventions (4Thed.). Northvale, NJ: Aronson.
39. Jacobsen P. B., Hann, D. M., Azzarello, L. M., Horton, J., Balducci, L., & Lyman, G. H. (1999). Fatigue in women receiving adjuvant chemotherapy for breast cancer: Characteristics, course, and correlates. Journal of Pain and Symptom Management, 18, 233-242.
40. Janoff-Bulman, R. (1992). Shattered assumptions: Towards a new psychology of trauma. New York, NY: Free Press.
41. Janoff-Bulman, R., & Frantz, C. M. (1997). The impact of trauma on meaning: From meaningless world to meaningful life. In M. Power & C. Brewin (Eds.), The transformation of meaning in psychological therapies: Integrating theory and practice. Chichester, England: Wiley.
42. Jim, H. S., Richardson, S. A., Golden-Kreutz, D. M., & Andersen, B. L. (2006). Strategies used in coping with a cancer diagnosis predict meaning in life for survivors. Health Psychology, 25, 753-761.
43. Karoly, P. (1999). A goal systems-self-regulatory perspective on personality, psychopathology, and change. Review of General Psychology, 3, 264-291.
44. Kernan, W. D., & Lepore, S. J. (2009). Searching for and making meaning aft er breast cancer: Prevalence, patterns, and negative affect. Social Science & Medicine, 68, 1176-1182.
45. Kissane, D. W., Bloch, S., Smith, G. C., Miach, P., Clarke, D. M., Ikin, J. M., McKenzie, D. (2003). Cognitive-existential group psychotherapy for women with primary breast cancer: A randomised controlled trial. Psycho-Oncology, 12, 532-546.
46. Klinger, E. (1998). The search for meaning in evolutionary perspective and its clinical implications. In P. T. P. Wong & P. S. Fry (Eds.), The human quest for meaning: A handbook of psychological research and clinical applications (pp. 27-50). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
47. Koltko-Rivera, M. E. (2004). The psychology of worldviews. Review of General Psychology, 8, 1-58.
48. Kulik, L., & Kronfeld, M. (2005). Adjustment to breast cancer: The contribution of resources and causal attributions regarding the illness. Social Work in Health Care, 41, 37-57.
49. Lee, V., Cohen, S. R., Edgar, L., Laizner, A. M., & Gagnon, A. J. (2004). Clarifying “meaning” in the context of cancer research: A systematic literature review. Palliative & Supportive Care, 2, 291-303.
50. Lee, V., Cohen, S. R., Edgar, L., Laizner, A. M., & Gagnon, A. J. (2006). Meaning-making intervention during breast or colorectal cancer treatment improves self-esteem, optimism, and self-efficacy. Social Science and Medicine, 62, 3133-3145.
51. Lepore, S. J. (2001). A social-cognitive processing model of emotional adjustment to cancer. In A. Baum & B. Anderson (Eds), Psychosocial interventions for cancer (pp. 99-118). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
52. Lepore, S. J., Silver, R. C., Wortman, C. B., & Wayment, H. A. (1996). Social constraints, intrusive thoughts, and depressive symptoms among bereaved mothers. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 70, 271-282.
53. Lethborg, C. E., Kissane, D., Burns, W. I., & Snyder, R. (2000). “Castadrift”: The experience of completing treatment among women wiThearly stage breast cancer. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 18, 73-90.
54. Lipowski, Z. J. (1970). Physical illness, the individual and the coping process. Psychiatric Medicine, 1, 91-102.
55. Little, M., & Sayers, E. (2004). The skull beneath the skin: Cancer survival and awareness of death. Psycho-Oncology, 13, 190-198.
56. Llewellyn, C. D., McGurk, M., & Weinman, J. (2007). Illness and treatment beliefs in head and neck cancer: Is Leventhal’s common sense model a useful framework for determining changes in outcomes over time?. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 63, 17-26.
57. Malcarne, V. E., Compas, B. E., Epping-Jordan, J. E., & Howell, D. C. (1995). Cognitive factors in adjustment to cancer: Attributions of self-blame and perceptions of control. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 18, 401-417.
58. McBride, C. M., Clipp, E., Peterson, B. L., Lipkus, I. M. & Demark-Wahnefried, W. (2000). Psychological impact of diagnosis and risk reduction among cancer survivors. Psycho-Oncology, 9, 418-427.
59. Moadel, A., Morgan, C., Fatone, A., Grennan, J., Carter, J., Laruffa, G., Dutcher, J. (1999). Seeking meaning and hope: Self-reported spiritual and existential needs among an ethnically-diverse cancer patient population. Psycho-Oncology, 8, 378-385.
60. Monson, C. M., Schnurr, P. P., Resick, P. A., Friedman, M. J., Yinong, Y. X., & Stevens, S. P. (2006). Cognitive processing therapy for veterans with military-related post-traumatic stress disorder. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 74, 898-907.
61. National Cancer Institute. (2007, October 12). Cancer survivorship research. Retrieved from http://dccps.nci.nih.gov/ocs/definitions.html
62. National Cancer Institute. (2009, December 11). Retrieved from http://dccps.nci.nih. gov/ocs
63. Nordin, K., Wasteson, E., Hoffman, K., Glimelius, B., & Sjödén, P. O. (2001). Discrep ancies between attainment and importance of life values and anxiety and depression in gastrointestinal cancer patients and their spouses. Psycho-Oncology, 10, 479-489.
64. Norton, T. R., Manne, S. L., Rubin, S., Hernandez, E., Carlson, J., Bergman, C., & Rosenblum, N. (2005). Ovarian cancer patients’ psychological distress: The role of physical impairment, perceived unsupportive family and friend behaviors, perceived control, and self-esteem. Health Psychology, 24, 143-152.
65. Park, C. L. (in press). Making sense of the meaning literature: An integrative review of meaning making and its effects on adjustment to stressful life events. Psychological Bulletin.
66. Park, C. L., Edmondson, D., Fenster, J. R., & Blank, T. O. (2008). Meaning making and psychological adjustment following cancer: The mediating roles of growth, life meaning, and restored just world beliefs. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 863-875.
67. Park, C. L., & Folkman, S. (1997). Meaning in the context of stress and coping. General Review of Psychology, 1, 115-144.
68. Park, C. L., Zlateva, I., & Blank, T. O. (2009). Self-identity aft er cancer: “survivor”, “victim”, “patient”, and “person with cancer." Journal of General Internal Medicine [Special issue on survivorship], 24(Suppl. 2), S430-S435.
69. Redd, W. H., DuHamel, K., Johnson-Vickberg, S. M., Ostroff, J. L., Smith, M. Y., Manne, S. L. (2001). Long-term adjustment in cancer survivors: Integration of classical-conditioning and cognitive processing models. In A. Baum & B. Anderson (Eds), Psychosocial interventions for cancer (pp. 77-98). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
70. Reker, G. T., & Wong, P. T. P. (1988). Aging as an individual process: Toward a theory of personal meaning. In J. E. Birren & V. L. Bengston (Eds.), Emergent theories of aging (pp. 214-246). New York, NY: Springer.
71. Roberts, K. J., Lepore, S. J., & Helgeson, V. S. (2005). Social-cognitive correlates of adjustment to prostate cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 14, 1-10.
72. Roesch, S. C., & Weiner, B. (2001). A meta-analytic review of coping with illness: Do causal attributions matter?. Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 50, 205-219.
73. Roesch, S. C., Weiner, B., & Vaughn, A. A. (2002). Cognitive approaches to stress and coping. Current Opinion in Psychiatry, 15, 627-632.
74. Schroevers, M. J., Ranchor, A. V., & Sanderman, R. (2004). The role of age at the onset of cancer in relation to survivors’ long-term adjustment: A controlled comparison over an eight-year period. Psycho-Oncology, 13, 740-752.
75. Sears, S. R., Stanton, A. L., & Danoff-Burg, S. (2003) The yellow brick road and the emerald city: Benefit finding, positive reappraisal coping and post-traumatic growth in women wiThearly-stage breast cancer. Health Psychology, 22, 487-497.
76. Segerstrom, S. C., Stanton, A. L., Alden, L. E., & Shortridge, B. E. (2003). A multidimensional structure for repetitive thought: What’s on your mind, and how, and how much?. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 85, 909-921.
77. Silver, R. L., Boon, C., & Stones, M. H. (1983). Searching for meaning in misfortune: Making sense of incest. Journal of Social Issues, 39, 81-102.
78. Silver-Aylaian, M., & Cohen, L. H. (2001). Role of major lifetime stressors in patients’ and spouses’ reactions to cancer. Journal of Traumatic Stress, 14, 405-412.
79. Skaggs, B. G., &. Barron, C. R. (2006). Searching for meaning in negative events: Concept analysis. Journal of Advanced Nursing, 53, 559-570.
80. Stanton, A. L., Bower, J. E., & Low, C. A. (2006). Posttraumatic growth aft er cancer. In L. Calhoun & R. Tedeschi (Eds.), Handbook of posttraumatic growth (pp. 138-175). Mahwah, NJ: Erlbaum.
81. Stanton, A. L, Danoff-Burg, S., Cameron, C. L., Bishop, M., Collins, C. A., Kirk, S. B., Twillman, R. (2000). Emotionally expressive coping predicts psychological and physical adjustment to breast cancer. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 68, 875-882.
82. Stull, V. B., Snyder, D. C., & Demark-Wahnefried, W. (2007) Lifestyle interventions in cancer survivors: Designing programs that meet the needs of this vulnerable and growing population. Journal of Nutrition, 137, 243S-248S.
83. Tait, R., & Silver, R. C. (1989). Coming to terms with major negative life events. In J. S. Uleman & J. A. Bargh (Eds.), Unintended thought (pp. 351-382). New York, NY: Guilford Press.
84. Taylor, E. J. (1995). Whys and wherefores: Adult patient perspectives of the meaning of cancer. Seminars in Oncology Nursing, 11, 32-40.
85. Taylor, S. E. (1983). Adjustment to threatening events: A theory of cognitive adaptation. American Psychologist, 38, 1161-1173.
86. Taylor, S. E., Lichtman, R. R., & Wood, J. V. (1984). Attributions, beliefs about control, and adjustment to breast cancer. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 46, 489-502.
87. Tomich, P. L., & Helgeson, V. S. (2002). Five years later: A cross-sectional comparison of breast cancer survivors with healthy women. Psycho-Oncology, 11, 154-169.
88. Tomich, P. L., & Helgeson, V. S. (2004). Is finding something good in the bad always good? Benefit finding among women with breast cancer. Health Psychology, 23, 16-23.
89. Tross, S., & Holland, J. C. (1989). Psychological sequelae in cancer survivors. In J. C. Holland & J. H. Rowland (Eds.), Handbook of psychooncology: Psychological care for the patient with cancer (pp. 101-116). New York, NY: Oxford University Press.
90. Westling, E., Garcia, K., & Mann, T. (2007). Discovery of meaning and adherence to medications in HIV-infected women. Journal of Health Psychology, 12, 627-635.
91. Widows, M. R., Jacobsen, P. B., Booth-Jones, M., & Fields, K. K. (2005). Predictors of posttraumatic growth following bone marrow transplantation for cancer. Healthy Psychology, 24, 266-273.
92. Zebrack, B. J. (2000). Cancer survivor identity and quality of life. Cancer Practice, 8, 238-242.
93. Zebrack, B. J., Ganz, P. A., Bernaards, C. A., Petersen, L., Abraham, L. (2006). Assessing the impact of cancer: development of a new instrument for long-term survivors. Psycho-Oncology, 15, 407-421.