Biomedical subjects
Publications and source records attributed to B L Feather.
The Oberleder Attitude Scale was reduced from 25 to 16 items and was factored into three major concepts, potential, limitations, and stereotypes. Responses of 345 in-home care aides indicated that the 345 aides held positive attitudes toward their elderly patients.
With the increased incidence of breast cancer in the United States, emotional adjustment of postmastectomy patients is a growing concern. This study was designed to examine demographic and social network variables that relate to social support. Breast cancer patients (N = 613) who had a mastectomy within the past 24 months (means = 12 months) responded to the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (NSSQ). To supplement the quantitative data, interviews were conducted with 27 women. Results from the NSSQ indicated that women perceived greater emotional support (means = 4.25) than aid (means = 3.97) from their network providers. The average number of persons (both professional and lay) in the women's total network was 8.1, comprising 57% family members and 27% friends. Relationships with network providers were characterized as stable (5-year) and frequent (weekly). Social support increased with age, but the size of the network decreased. No significant difference existed between marital categories in emotional support or frequency of contact. Married or widowed women perceived similar amounts of aid, whereas single and divorced women indicated less. Divorced women reported significantly larger networks than the other three marital status categories. Persons with less education perceived greater emotional support than those with more education. Being married had a significant positive relationship to emotional support (p less than .001).
To measure the relationships among social support, attitudes toward mastectomy, and self-esteem in women postmastectomy, the Mastectomy Attitude Scale (MAS), the Norbeck Social Support Questionnaire (NSSQ), and Rosenberg's Self-Esteem Scale (RSE) were used. A factor analysis of the MAS yielded six factors that were used in regression analyses. Stepwise regression was used to identify variables that significantly contributed to women's self-esteem. Covariates in the analyses were age, years of education, marital status, and adjuvant chemotherapy. The women (n = 456) averaged 54 years in age, had slightly more than a high school education (mean = 13.0 years), and were predominately married (80%); almost half had adjuvant chemotherapy (45.6%). The overall regression model was significantly (df = 16,440; F = 15.12, p less than 0.0001) and accounted for 35.5% of the variance. Seven of the 16 variables were significant accounting for the following percentages of variance: sexuality, 21.1%; outlook, 5.8%, appearance satisfaction, 3.1%; emotions, 1.3%; college education, 1.2%; adjuvant chemotherapy, 0.6%; and age (60-69), 0.6%. Thus, women's attitudes toward mastectomy accounted for a greater proportion of the variance in their self-esteem than did social support and other demographic variables.
Due to shorter hospitalization periods and changes in surgical procedures, breast cancer patients have less inpatient contact with rehabilitation resources. A questionnaire related to educational needs and social support was mailed statewide to 2,000 postmastectomy women who had received a Reach to Recovery visit. The findings are based on quantitative data reported by 933 women and from 27 women in follow-up interviews. Respondents ranked their educational needs in six categories from greatest to least importance as follows: (1) information about breast cancer, (2/3) personal hygiene/exercise and nutrition/weight control (both ranked of equal importance), (4) prosthesis/clothing information, (5) social support, and (6) sexual issues. Performance on the knowledge assessment correlated directly with the amount of educational experience and inversely with age. Respondents who lived in communities of less than 2,500 were less informed than those from other locations. Participation in formalized support groups was infrequent (11%). The major source of information was the media, with 88% indicating they would watch television programs about breast cancer. Thirty-three percent of the respondents indicated they owned a video cassette recorder (VCR); about 93% said VCRs were available for rent in their community. Work associates were identified as a group that encouraged information seeking; health care professionals were the most successful in motivating women to participate in support groups.
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