AimThe
aim of this study was to assess the intensity of the symptoms of depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms among different age groups of older cancer patients.
MethodsParticipants were composed of 321 cancer patients 60years and older, who were divided into three age groups: 60-69, 70-79, and 80+years. The participants answered the Brief Symptom Inventory-18, which included subscales for depression, anxiety, and somatic symptoms and the cancer-related problem list, in addition to providing personal and cancer-related details.
ResultsDepressive, anxiety, and somatic symptoms and cancer-related problems were lowest in the 70-79years age group and highest in the 80+years age group. Comparisons
between pairs of groups showed significant differences between each of the groups in Brief Symptom Inventory HM781-36B molecular weight total scores and mTOR inhibitor between the 80+years age group and the other two groups in regard to depressive symptoms and cancer-related problems. Differences, related to anxiety and somatic symptoms, were significant for the 70-79year olds, in comparison with the youngest and oldest groups. Intensity of symptoms was explained by older age, higher number of cancer-related problems, female gender, and lower income.
ConclusionNonlinear relations exist between age and psychological symptoms, which is in line with the postponement of age-related health and functional decline in the modern era. These Selleck VS-6063 results suggest that the study of psychological reactions to cancer should examine differences between age groups among older cancer patients. Copyright (c) 2013 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.”
“Background: Studies showing that adolescents are more likely to smoke if they have friends who smoke typically infer that this is the result of peer influence. However, it may also be due to adolescents choosing friends who have smoking behaviors similar to
their own (i.e., selection). One of the most influential studies of influence and selection effects on smoking concluded that these processes contribute about equally to peer group homogeneity in adolescent smoking (Ennett and Bauman, 1994). The goal of this study was to conduct a partial replication of these findings.
Methods: Data are from 1223 participants in the National Longitudinal Study of Adolescent Health. Spectral decomposition techniques identified friendship cliques, which were then used as the unit of analysis to examine influence and selection effects over a one-year period.
Results: Non-smokers were more likely to become smokers if they initially belonged to a smoking (vs. non-smoking) group, and smokers were more likely to become non-smokers if they initially belonged to a non-smoking (vs. smoking) group, indicating an influence effect on both initiation and cessation.