Deck 11: Living With Chronic Illness

Question 1

Benefit finding is

A) acknowledgement of an illness.
B) acknowledgement of effects of an illness in completing daily tasks.
C) acknowledgement of the negative changes brought about in one's life due to an illness.
D) a worker's acknowledgement of benefits provided by the workplace.
E) acknowledgement of the positive effects of an illness in one's life.

Answer 1

acknowledgement of the positive effects of an illness in one's life.

Question 2

According to Clarke and Currie (2009), anxiety is more common in

A) men.
B) people who are not in a significant relationship.
C) people with stroke, heart disease, and cancer.
D) women.
E) children with life threatening illnesses.

Answer 2

people with stroke, heart disease, and cancer.

Question 3

There is evidence that depression may occur somewhat earlier in the adjustment process than denial or severe anxiety.

Answer 3

False

Question 4

Which of the following is NOT a predictor of depression among chronically ill patients?

A) the severity of the illness
B) marital status
C) the duration of the illness
D) chronic pain
E) becoming disabled

Question 5

Depression in chronically ill patients is

A) related to long-term rehabilitation and recovery.
B) easily and reliably assessed.
C) most commonly found in the acute phase of illness.
D) independent of illness severity.
E) least in patients with fibromyalgia.

Question 6

With regards to chronic illness, an enduring tendency to notice and appreciate the positive in life may

A) improve adjustment to chronic illness.
B) change social life drastically.
C) make taking medications easier.
D) make the days go by easily.
E) make adjustment to chronic illness worse.

Question 7

Denial may serve a protective function

A) before the patient seeks medical treatment.
B) when patients must play an active role in the treatment regimen.
C) in the acute phase of the illness.
D) during the rehabilitative phase of the illness.
E) if the illness is chronic.

Question 8

Collins et al. (1990) reported that more than of the cancer patients in their study reported at least some beneficial changes in their life as a result of the cancer.

A) 20 percent
B) 90 percent
C) 75 percent
D) 50 percent
E) 45 percent

Question 9

Research on the positive changes in response to chronic illness has found

A) that approximately 40 percent of cancer patients reported at least some beneficial changes in their lives as a result of the cancer.
B) that there is better psychological adjustment, but poorer social adjustment.
C) that there is better social adjustment, but poorer psychological adjustment.
D) that achieving a high quality of life is linked to having positive self-perceptions.
E) that finding benefits in illness is not always associated with good adjustment.

Question 10

is the single reliable component of quality of life.

A) Education
B) Psychological status
C) Physical functioning
D) Social functioning
E) Disease-related symptomatology

Question 11

Anxiety

A) is a normal reaction to illness of any kind.
B) can increase the risk of subsequent heart attacks among patients with heart disease.
C) aids with assessments of severity of the disease and its treatment.
D) helps with glucose control in diabetic patients.
E) is no more common in people with heart disease than it is with the general population.

Question 12

Unlike anxiety and denial, depression

A) may be a delayed reaction to chronic illness.
B) is at a steady state during the course of chronic illness.
C) may be intermittent and unrelenting.
D) is the first response to chronic illness.
E) is usually a short-term reaction to chronic illness.

Question 13

Denial is useful in helping patients

A) control their emotional reaction to illness.
B) monitor their physical condition.
C) seek treatment.
D) denial is never helpful.
E) become active in their treatment regimen.

Question 14

Self-reports of health status

A) have found to predict mortality beyond medical and psychological factors.
B) are an important aspect of quality of life.
C) have found to predict morbidity beyond medical and psychological factors.
D) are unreliable.
E) are an important aspect of quality of life, have found to predict morbidity and mortality beyond medical and psychological factors.

Question 15

Studying quality of life

A) cannot be used to compare therapies.
B) tells us little that the diagnosis does not provide.
C) makes it possible to determine what kinds of interventions may be needed.
D) has always been a top priority in medicine.
E) is an unnecessary intrusion into patients' lives.

Question 16

Denial

A) inhibits the success of medical treatments for chronic illness.
B) may help the patient control her or his emotional reaction.
C) can mask the fear associated with a chronic disease.
D) is a defense mechanism that allows a patient to avoid the immediate implications, and can mask the fear associated with a chronic disease, however it may help the patient control his or her emotional reaction.
E) is a defense mechanism that allows the patient to avoid the immediate implications of an illness.

Question 17

Medical measures are only weakly related to patients' or relatives' assessments of quality of life.

Question 18

Immediately after a chronic illness is diagnosed,

A) patients are in a state of crisis where they find their habitual ways of coping do not work and anxiety, fear, and depression take over.
B) patients are in a state of crisis.
C) patients find their habitual ways of coping with problems do not work.
D) patients begin to develop a sense of how the chronic illness will alter their lives right away.
E) anxiety, fear, and depression often take over.

Question 19

Which of these is NOT a factor determining quality of life?

A) The functional aspects of daily living.
B) Differences depending on whether the chronic illness is in an acute phase or when symptoms are less active.
C) How much the disease and its treatment interferes with the activities of daily living.
D) Medications a person regularly takes to keep functional.
E) The extent to which a patient's normal life activities have been compromised by disease and treatment.

Question 20

Medical measures of quality of life are

A) moderately correlated with health psychologists' assessments.
B) poorly correlated with patients' and relatives' assessments.
C) poorly correlated with patients' assessments but are moderately correlated with relatives' assessments.
D) seldom based on objective criteria.
E) None of these answers are correct.

Question 21

Whereas disease severity and the presence of debilitating symptoms affect quality of life, they are unrelated to body image.

Question 22

Adherence to treatment regimens in chronically ill patients is

A) significantly lower than in patients being treated for acute disorders.
B) especially problematic in complex and long-term treatment regimens.
C) significantly lower in women than in men.
D) significantly higher than in patients being treated for acute disorders.
E) unaffected by the side effects of treatment.

Question 23

Illness duration influences which types of coping strategies are used.

Question 24

Anita is recovering from a chronic illness. Her social identity

A) will be rebuilt very easily.
B) will be lost now.
C) will be rebuilt with challenges.
D) will never be the same as before her illness.
E) will be rebuilt with a lot of difficulty.

Question 25

The perception and evaluation of one's physical functioning and appearance comprises one's

A) self-esteem.
B) physical self.
C) self-concept.
D) body image.
E) self-evaluation.

Question 26

are visions of the self for the future, which can help to motivate, organize, and direct an individual's current goals and aspirations.

A) Social selves
B) Possible selves
C) Achieving selves
D) Potential selves
E) Physical selves

Question 27

Analyses of the effectiveness of coping strategies in managing the stress associated with chronic illness conclude that

A) confrontative coping is associated with better adjustment than the use of multiple coping strategies.
B) the coping strategies used by chronically ill patients are significantly different from the strategies observed in healthy samples.
C) avoidant coping is associated with reduced psychological distress and better psychological adjustment.
D) active coping is more consistently associated with good adjustment.
E) vigilant coping is associated with reduced psychological distress over the long-term.

Question 28

Successful adjustment to chronic illness is NOT associated with

A) having an appropriate or accurate illness schema about the nature of one's illness.
B) developing an acute model of one's disorder.
C) blaming others for one's illness and thus minimizing self-blame.
D) avoidant coping.
E) having a personal sense of control, even in medical situations, in which little personal control is possible.

Question 29

Chronic whiplash is a functional somatic disorder.

Question 30

Results from the Canadian Community Health Survey (CCHS) suggest that people with fibromyalgia are times more likely to have major depression than the general population.

A) three and a half
B) two
C) three
D) four
E) two and a half

Question 31

According to researchers at the University of British Columbia, children with asthma benefit most from

A) perceived control.
B) emotion focused coping.
C) self-esteem.
D) parental support.
E) self-efficacy.

Question 32

Self-blame for chronic illness is widespread.

Question 33

Body image can be improved by

A) medication.
B) ignoring the area of disfigurement.
C) stressing other aspects of appearance and health.
D) reconstructive surgery.
E) biofeedback.

Question 34

Which of the following is NOT one of the goals of rehabilitation discussed in your text?

A) Learning new pain management skills.
B) Redefining oneself as being chronically ill.
C) Adherence to one's treatment regimen.
D) The control of energy expenditure.
E) They are all goals of rehabilitation discussed in your text.

Question 35

In general, high levels of perceived control facilitate adjustment, EXCEPT in cases where

A) patients are seriously debilitated, both physically and psychosocially.
B) actual control is low.
C) patients are seriously debilitated and must cope with long-term chronic illness.
D) patients must cope with acute disorders and treatment.
E) patients must cope with long-term chronic illness.

Question 36

Which of the following is NOT a functional somatic syndrome?

A) Vietnam War syndrome.
B) Fibromyalgia.
C) Sick building syndrome.
D) Chemical sensitivity.
E) Chronic fatigue syndrome.

Question 37

Achievement through vocational activities and personal goals is an important aspect of

A) self-image.
B) selflessness.
C) self-help.
D) self-confidence.
E) self-esteem.

Question 38

Blaming another person for one's disorder

A) is most effective when the person being blamed is not a close friend or family member.
B) can interfere with adjustment to the disease.
C) may be tied to unresolved hostility.
D) is maladaptive, may be tied to unresolved hostility, and can interfere with adjustment to the disease.
E) is maladaptive.

Question 39

Fibromyalgia

A) is associated with increased parasympathetic system stress responses.
B) affects almost 400,000 Canadians.
C) is not a real disease.
D) is associated with sleep apnea.
E) is more common among men than women.

Question 40

According to a study of cancer patients conducted by Dunkel-Schetter and her colleagues (1988), the most frequently cited stressor was

A) fear and uncertainty about the future.
B) limitations in physical abilities.
C) pain management.
D) financial worries.
E) altered physical appearance and lifestyle.

Question 41

Discuss the components of quality of life.

Question 42

What are the common emotional responses to chronic illness? How do these responses impact care and adjustment?

Question 43

Most caregiving for the chronically ill is provided by

A) men.
B) family members.
C) formal services such as home health nurses or nursing homes.
D) hospices.
E) friends.

Question 44

A social support group is most likely to help

A) Anna, who has had a relapse of influenza.
B) Sybil, a high-school dropout with three children who is recovering from a mastectomy.
C) Fred, an insurance company executive who is recovering from a fractured leg.
D) Mar'a, a recent immigrant from the Philippines who suffers from allergies.
E) Rita, who is suffering from pneumonia.

Question 45

Divorce rates for families with a chronic illness are

A) higher than families without a chronic illness.
B) lower than families without a chronic illness.
C) lower in families with children because they take on new roles to help out.
D) no different than families without a chronic illness.
E) higher when the patriarch is sick because they are the primary breadwinner.

Question 46

Answer the question posed in the text: "How is the self changed by chronic disease?"

Question 47

Which of the following is NOT a result of caring for those with chronic illness

A) strains the relationship between patient and caregiver.
B) increases resiliency in most people.
C) is linked to alterations in immune functioning.
D) compromises the health of the caregiver.
E) increases risk for depression.

Question 48

Regarding caregiving for people with chronic illness,

A) caregiving is usually more rewarding for men than women.
B) the caregiving role requires a vast amount of medical knowledge or research in order to be effective.
C) the caregiver should only help with the psychological care of a patient.
D) the care-giving role more commonly falls to the oldest child.
E) care for people with chronic illness is notoriously irregular.

Question 49

Negative reactions to chronically ill patients include

A) feeling worn down.
B) stereotypes.
C) shunning.
D) distress.
E) discrimination.

Question 50

Which one of the following would hamper a child's ability to cope effectively with a chronic illness?

A) The parents do not appear distressed.
B) The child takes part in physical activities.
C) The parents have a history of depression or other mental illness.
D) The child continues to attend school throughout their illness.
E) The parents giving them some control over their treatment.

Question 51

With respect to the vocational issues in chronic illness

A) job counselling, retraining programs, and advice on how to avoid or combat discrimination should be assessed later in the recovery process so as to not interrupt the healing process.
B) cancer patients are rarely fired or laid off.
C) employers will often allow for a patient to take more sick days than an average employee.
D) some people may have to find ways to cope with working conditions that are not ideal but necessary to stay employed.
E) many people who suffer from chronic illness are able to keep their jobs with no complications.

Question 52

Creative non-adherence to treatment regimens among people with chronic illness

A) is recommended by doctors when there are no traditional methods left to try.
B) may occur because they know their disease extremely well.
C) occurs because they are not tuned into their internal feedback.
D) is rare.
E) is not an issue that health psychologists are concerned with.

Question 53

Simply telling patients that anxiety is a normal response to the stress of chronic illness does not alleviate their concerns about how they are reacting.

Question 54

Researchers investigating gender and the impact of chronic illness have found that

A) hospitalization of one's spouse does not increase risk of death for husbands or wives.
B) women have a higher burden of disease than men.
C) married women spend fewer days in nursing homes than married men.
D) men with chronic illness are less likely to be married than disabled women.
E) women with chronic illness also experience less distress than men.

Question 55

Patient education programs that include coping skills training

A) increase patients' feelings of purpose and meaning in life only.
B) can increase knowledge about the disease and increase feelings of purpose and meaning in life, all the while addressing adherence to treatment.
C) can increase knowledge about the disease and increase feelings of purpose and meaning in life but does not address adherence to treatment.
D) increase adherence to treatment.
E) increase knowledge about the disease only.

Question 56

Due to the chronic strain involved, the divorce rate among families with a chronic illness is higher than that for the general population.

Question 57

Family support of patients with a chronic illness is especially important because

A) they encourage the patient to be cheerful.
B) they are the only ones available when friends cannot be counted on.
C) they allow the patient to make his or her own choices.
D) they help the patient cope with the stigma associated with certain disorders.
E) they promote adherence to treatment.

Question 58

Many chronic illnesses lead to a decrease in sexual activity.

Question 59

The study by Lacaille and colleagues (2007) on the work-related problems of people with arthritis found that

A) they avoided working too hard so they could save their energy for their home lives.
B) ergonomic solutions in the office were not helpful.
C) job satisfaction, aspirations for advancement, and salary were unaffected by their arthritis.
D) fatigue was the most limiting symptom of arthritis that created problems at work.
E) co-workers' relationships were supportive.

Question 60

The Internet is a good source of information about skills for coping with common illness-related problems.

Question 61

What are the coping strategies commonly used to cope with chronic illness? Which ones are more adaptive and which ones are less adaptive? What factors influence which strategies are used?

Question 62

Studies have found that the quality of life reported by cancer patients is higher than healthy
community samples. Explain how chronically ill patients cope with their illnesses and maintain a positive self-concept.

Question 63

Explain the role of social support in coping with chronic illness. In your answer, consider both the benefits and the costs of social support, and the different forms that it can take.