Do patients trust their physician? The role of attachment style in the patient-physician relationship within one year after a cancer diagnosis

Holwerda, Nynke; Sanderman, Robbert; Pool, Grieteke; Hinnen, Chris; Langendijk, Johannes A.; Bemelman, Willem A.; Hagedoorn, Mari Ë T; Sprangers, Mirjam A. G.

doi:10.3109/0284186x.2012.689856

Cited by 68 publications

(56 citation statements)

References 34 publications

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“…Identifying the patient's attachment style can help us evaluate individual differences in patients with regard to trust, satisfaction, and stress, as demonstrated by a recently published study by Holwerda et al (2012). An interesting review by Hillen, de Haes, and Smets (2011) underlined how oncologic patients, who confidently entrust their care to their attending physician, seem to have less fear of disease progression and better therapeutic adherence.…”

Section: Reciprocal Empathy and Working Alliance In Terminal Oncologimentioning

confidence: 92%

Reciprocal Empathy and Working Alliance in Terminal Oncological Illness: The Crucial Role of Patients’ Attachment Style

Calvo

Palmieri

Marinelli

et al. 2014

Journal of Psychosocial Oncology

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Security of attachment is described as an inner resource that may also facilitate the adaptation of individuals during critical life adversity, even when facing end-stage illness and death. This study assessed the relation between attachment styles, patient-caregiver reciprocal empathy, and patient-physician working alliance, in the terminal phase of an oncological disease. We hypothesized that the attachment security of patients, as measured by the Relationship Questionnaire (RQ), is related to the reciprocal empathy with the caregiver, as measured by the Perception of Partner Empathy (PPE) questionnaire, and to the working alliance with the physician, as measured by the Working Alliance Inventory-Short Form (WAI-S). Thirty-seven end-stage cancer patients, their caregivers, and physicians participated in the study. The PPE and WAI-S were administered twice: immediately after the hospice recovery and a week later. Results showed a significant improvement in patient-caregiver empathy and in patient-physician alliance after a week at the hospice. Findings indicated that the patients' attachment style influenced their perception of reciprocal empathy with the caregiver and the working alliance with the physician. Patients with a secure attachment had a greater capacity to show empathic closeness with their caregivers and enjoyed a better working alliance with their physicians. Caregivers' attachment security, otherwise, did not show the same influence on empathy and alliance. Findings support the hypothesis that patients' attachment security plays a crucial role in the relation with their own caregiver and with the physician, even at the terminal phase. Theoretical and clinical implications of these findings are explored in the discussion.

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Section: Reciprocal Empathy and Working Alliance In Terminal Oncologimentioning

confidence: 92%

Reciprocal Empathy and Working Alliance in Terminal Oncological Illness: The Crucial Role of Patients’ Attachment Style

Calvo

Palmieri

Marinelli

et al. 2014

Journal of Psychosocial Oncology

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

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“…Therefore, nurturing the PPR is very important for both sides, not only for the patients. For the patients' health outcome this could be crucial as Holwerda et al [13] were able to prove. They showed that the more trustful the PPR, the better the health outcome for cancer patients.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Why Do Cancer Patients Have Difficulties Evaluating the Need for a Second Opinion and What Is Needed to Lower the Barrier? A Qualitative Study

Peier-Ruser

Greyerz

2018

Oncol Res Treat

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Background: Requesting a second opinion (SO) is common in oncology. The reasons and barriers for patients not seeking an SO have yet been to be investigated. Why do patients have difficulties evaluating their need for an SO and what could be done to minimize these barriers? Patients and Methods: A 2-stage qualitative study was conducted. 1) Participants were studied in 3 focus groups (FGs). The participants themselves analyzed and then grouped their statements into defined categories. 2) Results of the FGs were discussed with 7 experts from different professional backgrounds. The interviews were unstructured and detailed in the protocol. The statements underwent thematic analysis. Results: The following 4 main barriers were identified: 1) state of shock, 2) pressure of time, 3) sense of excessive demands and uncertainty triggered by information overload, 4) fear of jeopardizing the patient-physician relationship. The following 4 main suggestions for minimizing the barriers were identified: 1) written patient information, 2) improvement of communication, 3) patient empowerment (PE), 4) holistic approach. Conclusion: These barriers incapacitate the patients from evaluating the need for an SO. To minimize the barriers, PE, self-management support and shared decision making is recommended. While the implementation of these concepts advances, patients can be empowered by psycho-oncological assistance.

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“…For example, individuals with insecure attachment styles have been found to describe their pain as more threatening and themselves as less able to deal with it [50,81]. Moreover, empirical studies with adults have found insecure attachment styles to be associated with lower trust and satisfaction with their physician [82], greater use of emotion-focused coping and less problem-focused coping [81], lower perceived social support [83], greater pain intensity and disability [14], greater pain-related distress [84], more physical symptoms [12], especially medically unexplained symptoms [13], and higher levels of pain-related stress, anxiety, depression and catastrophizing [50,55,85,86]. …”

Section: Attachment-based Interventions and Chronic Painmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…There is reason to predict that individuals with insecure attachment styles have poorer treatment outcomes with established evidence-based interventions, perhaps due to lower trust and engagement with health professionals [82] or less use of problem-solving strategies [81]. The next step would be to investigate whether particular patient groups, perhaps differing in attachment variables, would benefit from evidence-based interventions utilizing a more specific attachment focus, or from incorporating an additional attachment-based adjunct treatment component.…”

Section: Challenges and Future Directions For Researchmentioning

confidence: 99%

Attachment and Chronic Pain in Children and Adolescents

Donnelly

Jaaniste

2016

Children

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Although attachment theory is not new, its theoretical implications for the pediatric chronic pain context have not been thoroughly considered, and the empirical implications and potential clinical applications are worth exploring. The attachment framework broadly focuses on interactions between a child’s developing self-regulatory systems and their caregiver’s responses. These interactions are believed to create a template for how individuals will relate to others in the future, and may help account for normative and pathological patterns of emotions and behavior throughout life. This review outlines relevant aspects of the attachment framework to the pediatric chronic pain context. The theoretical and empirical literature is reviewed regarding the potential role of attachment-based constructs such as vulnerability and maintaining factors of pediatric chronic pain. The nature and targets of attachment-based pediatric interventions are considered, with particular focus on relevance for the pediatric chronic pain context. The potential role of attachment style in the transition from acute to chronic pain is considered, with further research directions outlined.

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Do patients trust their physician? The role of attachment style in the patient-physician relationship within one year after a cancer diagnosis

Cited by 68 publications

References 34 publications

Reciprocal Empathy and Working Alliance in Terminal Oncological Illness: The Crucial Role of Patients’ Attachment Style

Reciprocal Empathy and Working Alliance in Terminal Oncological Illness: The Crucial Role of Patients’ Attachment Style

Why Do Cancer Patients Have Difficulties Evaluating the Need for a Second Opinion and What Is Needed to Lower the Barrier? A Qualitative Study

Attachment and Chronic Pain in Children and Adolescents

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