Mental Health Outcomes During Colorectal Cancer Survivorship: a Review of the Literature

Overview

Journal Psychooncology

Publisher Wiley

Specialties Oncology
Psychology

Date 2015 Aug 29

PMID 26315692

Citations 50

Authors

Catherine E Mosher

Joseph G Winger

Barbara A Given

Paul R Helft

Bert H ONeil

Affiliations

Soon will be listed here.

Abstract

Objective: This article reviews literature on adults' mental health outcomes during acute and long-term colorectal cancer (CRC) survivorship.

Methods: We identified articles that included at least one measure of psychological symptoms or mental quality of life or well-being through a search of databases (CINAHL, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, and PsycARTICLES). Articles were published between January 2004 and April 2015.

Results: A significant proportion of CRC survivors experience clinically meaningful levels of anxiety and depressive symptoms or reduced mental well-being across the trajectory of the illness. Demographic, medical, and psychosocial predictors of mental health outcomes were identified. However, few studies were theory-driven, and gaps remain in our understanding of risk and protective factors with respect to mental health outcomes, especially during long-term CRC survivorship.

Conclusions: Theory-driven longitudinal research with larger samples is required to identify subgroups of CRC survivors with different trajectories of psychological adjustment. Such research would assess adjustment as a function of internal resources (e.g., personality and coping) and external resources (e.g., finances and social support) to inform future interventions for CRC survivors. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

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