Jennifer H. Wortmann

Religion and Spirituality in Adjustment Following Bereavement: An Integrative Review

Surprisingly little research has examined the widely held assumption that religion and spirituality are generally helpful in adjusting to bereavement. A systematic literature search located 73 empirical articles that examined religion/spirituality in the context of bereavement. The authors describe the multidimensional nature of religion/spirituality and use this framework to organize and integrate the findings of these empirical articles. Overall, results suggest that relations between religion and adjustment to bereavement are generally positive but inconsistent and vary depending in part on how religion/spirituality is measured. The authors conclude with a critique of the current research and directions for future research.

Death Without God Religious Struggle, Death Concerns, and Depression in the Terminally III

Religious worldviews often provide comfort near the end of life, but they can cause distress if life circumstances are perceived as evidence of Gods disfavor. This study, the first to test terror management theory (TMT) with terminally ill participants, examined the hypothesis that concerns about death mediate the relationship between religious struggle (and religious comfort) and depression in the terminally ill. Ninety-eight patients with end-stage congestive heart failure (CHF) completed measures of religious comfort, religious struggle, belief in an afterlife, concerns about death, and depression. In separate hierarchical linear regression models that controlled for degree of belief in an afterlife, death concerns fully mediated the relationships between religious struggle and depression and between religious comfort and depression. These findings suggest that religious struggle is a breakdown in the terror management system that leaves the individual vulnerable to the terror of death, and that properly functioning religious worldviews offer comfort by buffering the individual against death concerns.

Religion/Spirituality and Change in Meaning after Bereavement: Qualitative Evidence for the Meaning Making Model

Making meaning appears to be an important pathway through which religion/spirituality influences adjustment following bereavement (Wortmann & Park, 2008). Few studies, however, have provided a detailed account of the ways in which meaning changes as part of the meaning making process (Park & Ai, 2006). We review the qualitative research regarding religion/spirituality and bereavement to examine meaning from the phenomenological perspective of the bereaved. We use the meaning making model (Park, 2005b) to organize findings regarding the interplay of religion/spirituality and meaning, including the nature of meaning discrepancy and processes of assimilation and accommodation. We conclude with suggestions for future research.

Cognitive and emotional aspects of fear of recurrence: predictors and relations with adjustment in young to middle‐aged cancer survivors

We investigated predictors of emotional (worry) and cognitive (perceived risk) dimensions of fear of recurrence (FOR) and their relationships with psychological well‐being in a sample of young and middle‐aged adult cancer survivors.

The impact of Yoga upon young adult cancer survivors

This study explored the use of Yoga by using a cross-sectional analysis of 286 young adult cancer survivors. The aim was to explore yoga practice, reasons for using this therapy; predictors of yoga use and any potential relationship between yoga use and well-being. Ninety one participants (32.82%) reported practicing yoga from their initial diagnosis. Practitioners reported a relatively high intensity (mean: 7.46 h/month) and length (25.88 months) of practice. The most common reasons given for undertaking yoga were to maintain flexibility and promote relaxation. Sociodemographic predictors of yoga use included gender, higher education with increased yoga use generally related to enhanced feelings of well-being. Results suggest that yoga use is more commonly used by cancer survivors with greater resources. Understanding more about the use of yoga by cancer survivors may facilitate the development and promotion of yoga-based interventions.

Assessing quality of life in young adult cancer survivors: development of the Survivorship-Related Quality of Life scale

AbstractPurposeScientific advances in treatments and outcomes for those diagnosed with cancer in late adolescence and early adulthood depend, in part, on the availability of adequate assessment tools to measure health-related quality of life (HRQOL) for survivors in this age group. Domains especially relevant to late adolescence and young adulthood (LAYA; e.g., education and career, committed romantic relationships, worldview formation) are typically overlooked in studies assessing the impact of cancer, usually more appropriate for middle-aged or older survivors. Current HRQOL measures also tend to assess issues that are salient during or shortly after treatment rather than reflecting life years after treatment.MethodsTo develop a new measure to better capture the experience of LAYA cancer survivors in longer-term survivorship (the LAYA Survivorship-Related Quality of Life measure, LAYA-SRQL), we completed an extensive measure development process. After a literature review and focus groups with LAYA cancer survivors, we generated items and ran confirmatory factor and reliability analyses using a sample of 292 LAYA cancer survivors. We then examined validity using existing measures of physical and mental health, quality of life, and impact of cancer.ResultsThe final model consisted of two domains (satisfaction and impact), each consisting of ten factors: existential/spirituality, coping, relationship, dependence, vitality, health care, education/career, fertility, intimacy/sexuality, and cognition/memory. Confirmatory factor analysis and validity analyses indicated that the LAYA-SRQL is a psychometrically sound instrument with good validity.ConclusionThe LAYA-SRQL fills an important need in survivorship research, providing a way to assess HRQOL in LAYAs in a developmentally informed way.