This paper reports on the initial efforts to validate a brief self‐report inventory, the Systems of Belief Inventory(SBI‐15R), for use in quality of life (QOL) and psychosocial research studying adjustment to illness. The SBI‐15R was designed to measure religious and spiritual beliefs and practices, and the social support derived from a community sharing those beliefs. The authors proposed this scale to address the need for greater exploration of spiritual and religious beliefs in QOL, stress and coping research. Phase I: Item generation. The research team identified four domains comprised of 35 items that make up spiritual and religious beliefs and practices. The instrument was piloted in a structured interview format on 12 hospitalized patients with varying sites of cancer. Phase II: Formation of SBI‐54. After these initial efforts, the research team increased the number of items to 54 and adopted a self‐report format. To assess patients' reactions to the questionnaire, the new version was piloted on 50 outpatients with malignant melanoma. Phase III: Initial validation. To begin establishing validation, 301 healthy individuals with no history of cancer or serious illness in the prior year were asked to complete the SBI‐54 and several other instruments. A principal components analysis with varimax rotation of the SBI‐54 identified two factors, in contrast to the four which were hypothesized, one measuring spiritual beliefs and practices, the other measuring social support related to the respondent'rsquo;s religious community. Phase IV: Item reduction of the SBI‐54. A shortened version of the SBI‐54 with 15 items, five from the items identifying factor I and ten from those identifying factor II, was developed to lessen patient burden. The new SBI‐15 correlated highly with the SBI‐54, and demonstrated convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity. Revision of SBI‐15. The investigators rephrased one statement in order to broaden the applicability of the SBI‐15 to patients other than those with a diagnosis of cancer, and to healthy individuals. Discussion. The SBI‐15R met tests of internal consistency, test‐retest reliability, and convergent, divergent, and discriminant validity in both physically healthy and physically ill individuals. The SBI‐15R may have value in measuring religious and spiritual beliefs as a potentially mediating variable in coping with life‐threatening illness, and in the measurement of QOL. © 1998 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Social support received by male cancer patients from friends and family may be mediated by spouse support. As a result, single male patients are at higher risk for psychological distress. Male spouses were also found to have high rates of distress. These two groups need special attention by oncologists.

No abstract

This position paper, written on behalf of the MASCC Psychosocial Study Group, reviews the most common psychosocial concerns and needs of cancer patients during all phases of the cancer continuum, from diagnosis to death or survivorship. Developments in psychosocial care at both individual and systems levels are surveyed and summarized, along with gaps in knowledge and research and needed improvements in the dissemination and application of acquired knowledge and expertise. The roles of culture, spirituality, and religion as part of psychosocial care are reviewed, along with families' and caregivers' specific psychosocial concerns and needs, and areas of needed psychosocial interventions in supportive cancer care. Deficits in recognizing and meeting patients' psychosocial needs at the system level are examined, and international guidelines and models of psychosocial care are reviewed, including their potential applications to local contexts. The paper calls for a shift to a new paradigm of care through adoption of an integrated approach to identify and meet the psychosocial needs of cancer patients and survivors as part of supportive care worldwide.

No abstract