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S Buckle

Publications and source records attributed to S Buckle.

9 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1990

Illness intrusiveness and quality of life in end-stage renal disease: comparison and stability across treatment modalities.

Investigated the degree to which chronic, life-threatening illness and its treatment interfere with continued involvements in valued activities and interests--that is, illness intrusiveness--and its impact on quality of life in end-stage renal disease. Data were collected on two occasions separated by a lag of 6 weeks. Mixed analyses of variance indicated that life domains were affected differentially across treatments. Perceived illness intrusiveness correlated significantly with treatment time requirements, uremic symptoms, intercurrent nonrenal illnesses, fatigue, and difficulties in daily activities. Significant quality-of-life differences were observed across treatment modalities for satisfaction/happiness and pessimism/illness-related concerns but not for depression/distress. Perceived illness intrusiveness correlated significantly with each of these quality-of-life measures. Results were stable over time. These findings substantiate the construct of illness intrusiveness as a mediator of the psychosocial impact of chronic, life-threatening illness.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Psychosocial predictors of survival in end-stage renal disease.

Several psychosocial variables were investigated as predictors of 4-year survival in a sample of 97 end-stage renal disease (ESRD) patients undergoing treatment by hemodialysis, continuous ambulatory peritoneal dialysis, or renal transplantation. Hypothesized psychosocial predictors included depression, mood disturbance, life happiness, affect, pessimism, self-esteem, knowledge of renal disease and its treatment, perceived control over important life domains, perceived intrusiveness of ESRD into important life domains, illness-related concerns, difficulties in daily activities, number of regular leisure activities, somatic symptoms of distress, social networks, recent negative life events, and defensive response styles. Methodological controls were incorporated to test the prognostic significance of these variables and included a) exclusion of deaths attributable to "unnatural" causes; b) multivariate statistical controls for physical and demographic determinants of survival; c) widely used standardized psychosocial instruments; and d) temporally aggregated psychosocial measurements to enhance reliability. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses identified four variables as significant and independent predictors of increased survival times in ESRD: a) comparatively fewer serious nonrenal comorbid illnesses; b) younger age; c) regular involvement in an increased number of leisure activities; and d) overall life happiness described as "an even mixture of unhappiness and happiness" (as compared with "very happy"). However, no evidence was obtained to support the hypothesis that increased depressive symptoms and/or moods contribute to compromised survival in ESRD.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1990

Screening for genetic disorders: therapeutic abortion and IVF.

This paper examines a proposal to make use of IVF techniques to provide an alternative to therapeutic abortion of fetuses with genetic abnormalities. We begin by describing the proposed procedure, and then show that, considered in itself, it is morally on a par with therapeutic abortion. However, once the wider practical implications are brought into view, the proposed new procedure loses its initial appeal. The pros and cons are not sufficiently clear-cut entirely to rule out the IVF procedure, so the paper concludes by indicating some further complications which may follow, should the procedure come to be adopted.

Abortion, Therapeutic↗
PubMed1988

Biological processes and moral events.

It is often argued that the continuity of the processes of embryo development precludes the establishment of morally significant boundaries, once development is under way. These arguments typically claim that marking out any moral boundaries requires identifying particular significant events, and that in such circumstances this is either impossible or arbitrary. In this paper it is argued that arguments of this kind are not cogent. The paper concludes by indicating where the real problems lie.

Beginning of Human Life↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Denial as a defense against depression in end-stage renal disease: an empirical test.

End-stage renal disease (ESRD) is recognized as imposing severe psychosocial stresses upon patients with the result that depression is believed to be highly prevalent. A number of studies have reported low levels of depression, however, and this contradictory finding has been explained via the construct of defensive denial-i.e., patients may minimize the impact of illness-related experiences upon their overall experiences of life. The present study tested this hypothesis in a sample of seventy ESRD patients. Participants rated a series of twelve life dimensions (e.g., work, family and martial relations, recreation) in terms of perceived intrusiveness and control as well as indicating their perceived similarity using a card sort task. Standard measures of depression, positive and negative moods, somatic symptoms of distress, self-esteem, and life happiness were also obtained via structured interviews. A multidimensional scaling analysis applied to the card sort data indicated that ESRD patients do, indeed, perceive illness-related and nonillness aspects of life as independent. However, an analysis of partial variance-controlling for age and nonrenal health-failed to provide evidence of defensive denial. The suggestion is forwarded that previous findings of a high prevalence of depression in ESRD may be in error due to the misidentification of uremic symptoms as symptoms of depression.

Denial, Psychological↗