Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This study attempted to explore the neglected area of the emotional states of the dying and its relation to age and family support. Twenty-six terminally ill cancer patients in Nam Long Hospital were divided into groups according to age (young versus old) and family support received (without versus with immediate family support). Structured interviews were conducted and the content of the patients' verbal response was analyzed by the Content Analysis of Verbal Behavior. It was found that younger patients expressed more bargaining and complaints than older patients who revealed more depression and acceptance. Patients with immediate family support expressed less depression and more fears than those without. Age was also found to have an interaction with family support on the emotional state of anger. Significant correlations among some emotional states were found. The present study enables a better understanding of dying cancer patients. Implications for future research are also discussed.

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Greene

W. A.

, The Psychosocial Setting of the Development of Leukemia and Lymphoma, Annals of New York Academy of Sciences, 125:3, pp. 794–801, 1966.

Trunnell

T. B.

, Second Report on Institutional Research Grants of the American Cancer Society, American Cancer Society, New York, 1952.

Bacon

C. L.

Renneker

Cutler

, A Psychosomatic Survey on Cancer of Breast, Psychological Medicine, 14, p. 453, 1952.

Blumberg

E. M.

West

P. M.

Ellis

F. W.

, A Possible Relationship between Psychological Factors and Human Cancer, Psychological Medicine, 16, pp. 277–286, 1954.

Crisp

A. H.

, Some Psychosomatic Aspects of Neoplasm, British Journal of Medical Psychology, 43, pp. 313–331, 1970.

Parkes

C. M.

Brown

R. J.

, Health after Bereavement: A Controlled Study of Young Boston Widows and Widowers, Psychosomatic Medicine, 34:5, pp. 449–461, 1972.

Lindemann

, Symptomatology and Management of Acute Grief, Psychiatry, 101, pp. 141–148, 1944.

Kubler-Ross

, On Death and Dying, Macmillan, New York, 1969.

Lee

J. K. P.

, An Examination of Psychosocial Aspects of Lung Cancer Patients, unpublished Master Dissertation, Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, 1981.

10.

Epting

E. R.

Neimeyer

R. A.

, Personal Meanings of Death, Application of Personal Construct Theory to Clinical Practice, Hemisphere, 1983.

11.

F. L. Y.

, Social Support Systems and Coping: Family Members and Terminal Cancer Patients, unpublished Master Dissertation, Department of Psychology, University of Hong Kong, 1985.

12.

Pattison

E. M.

, The Experience of Dying, Prentice-Hall, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey, 1977.

13.

Schonfield

, Psychological and Life Experience Differences between the Israeli Women with Benign and Cancerous Breast Lesions, Journal of Psychosomatic Research 19, pp. 229–234, 1975.

14.

Caplan

, Support Systems and Community Mental Health, Behavioral Publications, New York, 1974.

15.

Gottlieb

B. H.

, Social Support Strategies: Guidelines for Mental Health Practice, Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, 1983.

16.

Eckenrode

Gore

, Stressful Events and Social Supports: The Significance of Context, in Social Networks and Social Support, Gottmeb

B. H.

(ed.), Sage Publications, Beverly Hills, 1981.

17.

Cassell

J. C.

, Psychiatric Epidemiology, in American Handbook of Psychiatry, 11, Caplan

(ed.), Basic Books, New York, 1974.

18.

Dean

Lin

, The Stress-Buffering Role of Social Support: Problems and Prospects for Systematic Investigation, The Journal of Nervous and Mental Disease, 165:6, pp. 403–417, 1977.

19.

Croog

A. H.

Lipson

Levine

, Help Patterns in Severe Illness: The Roles of Kin Network, Non-Family Resources, and Institutions, Journal of Marriage and Family, 34, pp. 32–41, 1972.

20.

Young

K. P. H.

, Coping in Crisis, Hong Kong University Press, 1983.

21.

Gottschalk

L. A.

Gleser

G. C.

, The Measurement of Psychological States Through the Content Analysis of Verbal Behavior, University of California Press, Los Angeles, 1969.

22.

Abse

D. W.

Marilyn

Wilkins

R. L.

Van de Castle

B. W.

Buxton

Demars

J. P.

Brown

R. S.

, Personality and Behavioral Characteristics of Lung Cancer Patients, Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 18, pp. 101–113, 1974.

23.

Achte

K. A.

Vaukonen

M. L.

, Cancer and the Psyche, Omega, 2, pp. 46–56, 1971.

24.

Kalish

R. A.

, Dying and Preparing for Death: A View of Families, in New Meanings of Death, Feifel

(ed.), McGraw Hill, New York, 1977.

25.

Cutler

, The Nature of the Cancer Process in Relation to Possible Psychosomatic Influence, in Psychological Variables in Human Cancer, Gengerall

J. A.

Kirkner

F. K.

(eds.), University of California Press, Berkeley, 1954.

26.

Feigenberg

Shneidman

E. S.

, Clinical Thanatology and Psychotherapy: Some Reflections on Caring for the Dying Person, Omega, 10:1, pp. 1–8, 1979.

27.

Hinton

J. M.

, The Physical and Mental Distress of the Dying, Quarterly Journal of Medicine, 125, pp. 1–21, 1963.

Family Support,Age,and Emotional States of Terminally Ill Cancer Patients

Abstract

Get full access to this article

References