2007 Final Program - Society of Behavioral Medicine

2007 SBM Annual Meeting & Scientific Sessions March 21-24, 2007 FINAL PROGRAM
Rapid Communications Posters Thursday, March 22, 2007 • 6:30 PM-8:00 PM • Poster Session B
= 45, TL I= .962, CFI = .978, RMSEA=.05) after controlling for
perceived social support. Physical activity had a significant effect on
self-efficacy (β = .56), which in turn, impacted mental health status
(β = .34), which had a significant effect on QOL (β = .20). The
total model accounted for 46% of the variance in QOL. This study
supports the notion that the effect of physical activity on QOL
is indirect, and emphasis should be placed on designing physical
activity programs that build self-efficacy and improve mental health
in effort to maximize improvements in QOL.
This Research was funded by the Cancer Research Center of Hawaii.
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Raheem Paxton, PhD,
Prevention and Control, Cancer Research Center of Hawaii,
Honolulu, HI, 96826; rpaxton@crch.hawaii.edu
2492
THE EFFECTS OF A SUPPORT GROUP ON QUALITY OF
LIFE IN WOMEN WITH CONGESTIVE HEART FAILURE
Kristin Kuntz, PhD, Charles F. Emery, PhD and Jamie Jackson, MA
The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH.
Congestive Heart Failure (CHF) is marked by symptoms of
fatigue, decreased exercise tolerance, and edema which often lead
to limitations in daily functioning. Research has demonstrated
a relationship between low perceived social support and poor
outcomes in women with CHF. The purpose of this study was to
evaluate a social support intervention among women with heart
failure. It was hypothesized that women with CHF who participated
in a support group would report enhanced quality of life (QOL)
compared to usual care patients. Thirty-four women with CHF
completed the Minnesota Living with Heart Failure Questionnaire
(MLHFQ) and the RAND 36-Item Health Survey. They were then
randomly assigned to either a support group condition (N=15) or
a usual care condition (N=19). Participants in the support group
met for one hour each week over the course of eight consecutive
weeks during which they discussed topics related to living with
CHF. All participants again completed the questionnaires 8 and 16
weeks after the group began. Usual care subjects did not receive an
intervention during the 16-week study but were referred to a local
support group at the conclusion of the study. Primary outcomes at
each time of measurement included general health-related QOL
and heart failure-specific emotional and physical QOL. Data were
analyzed with repeated measures ANOVAs with time as a within
subject factor and condition as a between subject factor. Results
indicated no significant effect of the intervention for general
health-related QOL, but there was a trend for enhanced emotional
functioning in the support group at 16 weeks, as reflected by
improvement on the MLHFQ (p = .06). This is the first randomized
controlled study of the effect of social support on QOL among
women with CHF. Although there appeared to be only limited
effects of the intervention on QOL, the results suggest that this may
be a promising area for further research.
CORRESPONDING AUTHOR: Kristin Kuntz, PhD, Psychology,
The Ohio State University, Glen Allen, VA, 23060; kkuntz@mcvhvcu.edu
2493
USING ELECTRONIC DIARIES TO ASSESS COVARIATION
OF SPOUSE DISTRESS AND MARITAL WELL-BEING WITH
PATIENT PAIN IN METASTATIC BREAST CANCER
Hoda Badr, PhD, 1 Cindy L. Carmack Taylor, PhD, 1 Karen Basen-
Engquist, PhD, 1 Deborah A. Kashy, PhD, 4 Leslie A. Schart, BA, 1
Massimo Cristofanilli, MD 2 and Tracey Revenson, PhD 3
1
Behavioral Science, The University of Texas M. D. Anderson
Cancer Center, Houston, TX; 2 Breast Medical Oncology, The
University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX;
3
The Graduate Center, City University of New York, New York, NY
and 4 Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI.
Background: Few studies adequately characterize the pain
experience of patients coping with advanced cancers or the impact
of patient symptom burden on spouses and family members. This
is surprising since the heaviest burden of care often falls to patients’
spouses and families, particularly at the end-of-life.
Methods: Twenty-four female metastatic breast cancer patients
initiating a chemotherapy cycle and their male spouses completed
6 daily electronic diary assessments for 14 consecutive days (84
assessments per person).
Results: Results of a series of repeated-measures multilevel models
using SAS Proc Mixed showed that, across days, spouses who had
higher ratings of patient pain also reported significantly (p