Dataset Information

The Cancer Loneliness Scale and Cancer-related Negative Social Expectations Scale: development and validation.

ABSTRACT: Loneliness is a known risk factor for poor mental and physical health outcomes and quality of life in the general population, and preliminary research suggests that loneliness is linked to poorer health outcomes in cancer patients as well. Various aspects of the cancer experience contribute to patients feeling alone and misunderstood. Furthermore, loneliness theory suggests that negative social expectations, which may specifically relate to the cancer experience, precipitate and sustain loneliness. Cancer-specific tools are needed to assess key constructs of this theory. In the current study, we developed and tested measures of (1) loneliness attributed to cancer (i.e., cancer-related loneliness) and (2) negative social expectations related to cancer.First, we developed the items for the measures based on theory, prior research, and expert feedback. Next, we assessed the measures' psychometric properties (i.e., internal consistency and construct validity) in a diverse sample of cancer patients.The final products included a 7-item unidimensional Cancer Loneliness Scale and a 5-item unidimensional Cancer-related Negative Social Expectations Scale. Evidence of excellent reliability and validity was found for both measures.The resulting measures have both clinical and research utility.

SUBMITTER: Adams RN

PROVIDER: S-EPMC5479729 | biostudies-literature | 2017 Jul

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature

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The Cancer Loneliness Scale and Cancer-related Negative Social Expectations Scale: development and validation.

Adams Rebecca N RN Mosher Catherine E CE Rand Kevin L KL Hirsh Adam T AT Monahan Patrick O PO Abonour Rafat R Kroenke Kurt K

Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation 20170224 7

<h4>Purpose</h4>Loneliness is a known risk factor for poor mental and physical health outcomes and quality of life in the general population, and preliminary research suggests that loneliness is linked to poorer health outcomes in cancer patients as well. Various aspects of the cancer experience contribute to patients feeling alone and misunderstood. Furthermore, loneliness theory suggests that negative social expectations, which may specifically relate to the cancer experience, precipitate and ...[more]

PMID: 28236266

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Project description:ObjectiveTo develop a short self-report instrument for the assessment of expectations (Expectation for Treatment Scale(ETS)) using acupuncture as a case example.DesignA cross-sectional assessment with retest after 1 week.SettingA web-based survey with patients suffering from pain.MethodsIn a three-step approach, we reduced the initially collected number of items from 17 to 9 and to 5, including expectations about coping ability, vitality, physical health and reduction of patient complaints. Items were selected according to internal consistency (Cronbach's alpha); convergent and divergent validities with related constructs (optimism, pessimism, resilience, perceived sensitivity to medicines, depression and others); 1-week retest reliability (intraclass correlation coefficient (ICC)); and exploratory and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA).ResultsA total of 102 patients suffering from pain were included, and 54 of these patients completed the retest assessment. The final version of the ETS consisted of five items and had an excellent Cronbach's alpha (0.90), with 72.33% variance on one single factor. Depression, pessimism and perceived sensitivity to medicines showed positive correlations with our expectation measure (r=0.23, r=0.20 and r=0.34, respectively); the correlation between the ETS and optimism was low (r=-0.07) and no correlation between the ETS and resilience was found (r=-0.07). Convergent validity was confirmed with a high correlation (r>0.90) between ETS and a treatment-specific measure of expectations. The retest ICC was 0.86, which showed high stability over 1 week. A CFA (n=439) with data from patients with low back pain confirmed the single-factor structure of the instrument.ConclusionThe ETS showed strong psychometric properties and covered a distinct construct. As the next step, the ETS might be implemented in different clinical conditions and settings to investigate psychometrics and its predictive power for treatment outcomes.

Project description:Social networks play an important role in smoking. Provision of social support during cessation is a cornerstone of treatment. Online social networks for cessation are ubiquitous and represent a promising modality for smokers to receive and provide the support necessary for cessation. There are no existing measures specific to online social support for smoking cessation.The objective was to develop a measure of social support to be used in online smoking cessation treatment research.Initial items for the Online Social Support for Smokers Scale (OS4) were based on existing theory and scales delineated in various taxonomies. Preliminary field analysis (N = 73) was conducted on 23 initial items to optimize the scale. Further development was conducted on a refined 15-item scale in the context of a large randomized trial of Internet and telephone cessation treatment with follow-ups at 3, 6, 12, and 18 months. In all, 1326 participants were randomized to an enhanced Internet arm that included a large online social network; psychometric analyses employed 3-month follow-up data from those reporting use of the enhanced Internet intervention at least once (n = 873). Items were subjected to a factor analysis, and the internal consistency reliability of the scale was examined along with construct and criterion validity. Other measures used in the study included demographics, nicotine dependence, partner support for cessation, general social support, social integration, stress, depression, health status, online community use, Internet use behaviors, intervention satisfaction, and 30-day point prevalence abstinence.The final 12-item OS4 scale demonstrated high internal consistency reliability (Cronbach alphas .86-.89) across demographic and smoking strata of interest. The OS4 also demonstrated good construct and criterion validity, with the directionality of the observed associations providing support for most a priori hypotheses. Significant Pearson correlations were observed between the OS4 and the Partner Interaction Questionnaire (PIQ) Positive subscale (? = .24, P < .001). As hypothesized, participants with the highest OS4 scores were more likely to have actively participated in the enhanced Internet community and to have high levels of satisfaction with the enhanced Internet intervention. In logistic regression analyses, the OS4 was highly predictive of 30-day point-prevalence abstinence at 6, 12, and 18 months (all P values <.001). The odds of abstinence at 6 months rose by 48% for each standard unit increase in online social support (95% confidence interval [CI] 1.17-1.71), dropping only slightly to 37% at 12 and 18 months (95% CI 1.17-1.59).The OS4 is a brief, reliable, and valid instrument for measuring online social support for smoking cessation. Results should be replicated and extended, but this study suggests the OS4 can be used to advance theory, understand mechanisms, and potentially help to improve the tailoring of Internet-based smoking cessation treatments. It can also inspire development of similar measures for other online health-related intervention research.Clinicaltrials.gov #NCT00282009; http://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT00282009 (Archived by WebCite at http://www.webcitation.org/60XNj3xM6).

Project description:A variety of factors contribute to the degree to which a person feels lonely and socially isolated. These factors may be particularly relevant in contexts requiring social distancing, e.g., during the COVID-19 pandemic or in states of immunodeficiency. We present the Loneliness and Isolation during Social Distancing (LISD) Scale. Extending existing measures, the LISD scale measures both state and trait aspects of loneliness and isolation, including indicators of social connectedness and support. In addition, it reliably predicts individual differences in anxiety and depression. Data were collected online from two independent samples in a social distancing context (the COVID-19 pandemic). Factorial validation was based on exploratory factor analysis (EFA; Sample 1, N = 244) and confirmatory factor analysis (CFA; Sample 2, N = 304). Multiple regression analyses were used to assess how the LISD scale predicts state anxiety and depression. The LISD scale showed satisfactory fit in both samples. Its two state factors indicate being lonely and isolated as well as connected and supported, while its three trait factors reflect general loneliness and isolation, sociability and sense of belonging, and social closeness and support. Our results imply strong predictive power of the LISD scale for state anxiety and depression, explaining 33 and 51% of variance, respectively. Anxiety and depression scores were particularly predicted by low dispositional sociability and sense of belonging and by currently being more lonely and isolated. In turn, being lonely and isolated was related to being less connected and supported (state) as well as having lower social closeness and support in general (trait). We provide a novel scale which distinguishes between acute and general dimensions of loneliness and social isolation while also predicting mental health. The LISD scale could be a valuable and economic addition to the assessment of mental health factors impacted by social distancing.

Dataset Information

The Cancer Loneliness Scale and Cancer-related Negative Social Expectations Scale: development and validation.

Publications

The Cancer Loneliness Scale and Cancer-related Negative Social Expectations Scale: development and validation.

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