Objective

Women with breast cancer are at increased risk of depression, and the extent to which valued activities are disrupted by one's illness has been correlated with depressive symptoms in women with early stage breast cancer. This association has not been examined in women with Stage IV (metastatic) cancer, and the temporal directionality of this relationship remains unclear. The goal of the current study was to examine longitudinal, reciprocal relationships between illness-related disruption of social and recreational activities and self-reported symptoms of depression in a sample of women living with Stage IV breast cancer.

Method

Participants were 103 women diagnosed with metastatic breast cancer. Women completed measures of depressive symptoms and activity disruption at study entry (T1) and at 3-month follow-up (T2).

Results

Activity disruption at study entry did not significantly predict changes in total depressive symptoms or in negative affective or somatic symptoms but did predict reductions in positive affect. Total depressive symptoms at study entry predicted increases in activity disruption, as did negative affective symptoms.

Conclusions

Depressive symptoms, specifically negative affective symptoms such as sadness, may exacerbate social and recreational activity disruption in women with metastatic breast cancer. Cancer-related activity disruption may, in turn, result in reductions in positive affect. These results highlight the importance of examining specific constellations of depressive symptoms and suggest that maintaining valued activities may help to preserve enjoyment of life for patients with Stage IV cancer.

The current research was designed to test the applicability of socioemotional selectivity theory (SST; Carstensen, 2006), a life span theory that posits that perceived time remaining in life (time perspective) is a critical determinant of motivation, to individuals who face foreshortened futures (limited time perspective) due to life-limiting medical illness. In Study 1, we investigated whether life goals and biases in attention and memory for valenced emotional stimuli differed between women living with metastatic breast cancer (n = 113; theoretically living under greater limited time perspective than peers without cancer) and similarly aged women without a cancer diagnosis (n = 50; theoretically living under greater expansive time perspective than peers with cancer) in accordance with SST. As hypothesized, metastatic group goals reflected greater emphasis on limited versus expansive time perspective relative to comparison group goals. Hypotheses regarding biases in attention and memory were not supported. Study 2 followed metastatic group participants over 3 months and revealed that, consistent with hypotheses, whereas limited time perspective goals predicted decreased intrusive thoughts about cancer, expansive time perspective goals predicted decreased perceived cancer-related benefits. Together, these studies suggest that SST is a useful lens through which to view some components of motivation and psychological adjustment among individuals confronting medically foreshortened futures.

Objective

We conducted a citation analysis to explore the impact of articles published in Health Psychology and determine whether the journal is fulfilling its stated mission.

Design

Six years of articles (N = 408) representing three editorial tenures from 1993-2003 were selected for analysis.

Main outcome measures

Articles were coded for several dimensions enabling examination of the relationship of article features to subsequent citations rates. Journals citing articles published in Health Psychology were classified into four categories: (1) psychology, (2) medicine, (3) public health and health policy, and (4) other journals.

Results

The majority of citations of Health Psychology articles were in psychology journals, followed closely by medical journals. Studies reporting data collected from college students, and discussing the theoretical implications of findings, were more likely to be cited in psychology journals, whereas studies reporting data from clinical populations, and discussing the practice implications of findings, were more likely to be cited in medical journals. Time since publication and page length were both associated with increased citation counts, and review articles were cited more frequently than observational studies.

Conclusion

Articles published in Health Psychology have a wide reach, informing psychology, medicine, public health and health policy. Certain characteristics of articles affect their subsequent pattern of citation.