Cancer Control Research
5R01MH057738-05
Redd, William H.
MATERNAL DISTRESS, COGNITIVE PROCESSING & PEDIATRIC BMT
AbstractDESCRIPTION (Adapted from the Applicant's Abstract): The proposed research
will investigate the role of cognitive/social processing in maternal
distress associated with pediatric bone marrow transplantation (BMT) in the
treatment of pediatric cancer. Although heightened levels of distress among
these mothers has been documented in clinical studies, little is known about
the course of such distress during and after BMT or factors that place
mothers at increased risk for adjustment problems. The research is guided
by the integration of current models of cognitive/social processing.
According to these models, the psychosocial impact of severe negative life
events is related to how well the individual is able to integrate the event
into his/her beliefs. This recovery process can be stifled when social
constraints on talking about the event exist. In the proposed longitudinal
analysis 509 mothers will be recruited to participate in a series of five
structured interviews during the course of their child's BMT. Assessments
of psychosocial and background factors will be conducted two weeks before
BMT hospitalization, during the acute BMT hospitalization, and at 6, 12, and
18 months post-BMT. Specific aims are to: 1) examine the course of
psychological distress among mothers of children undergoing BMT; 2)
determine the role of cognitive and social processing in the development and
maintenance of mothers' psychological distress during and after their
children's BMT; and 3) assess how dispositional optimism, monitoring coping
style, and prior negative life events influence mothers' cognitive
processing and development/maintenance of psychological distress. A
combination of latent growth curve and structural equation modeling will be
used in the data analysis.
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