While cancer screening can reduce mortality and morbidity, participation in cancer screening can have a negative psychological and behavioral impact, even when no malignancy is detected. Understanding and management of the potential negative impact of cancer screening is the focus of the research and mentoring activities for this award. The PI has spent over 20 years conducting research in behavioral oncology and mentoring pre- and postdoctoral trainees. His career has focused on the psychological, social, and behavioral dimensions of cancer detection, diagnosis, treatment, and recovery. This award will enable him to continue to develop his research and mentoring activities. The research builds on the Pl's ongoing study (R01 CA94036) of psychological and behavioral outcomes of transvaginal (TVS) screening for ovarian cancer and the Pl's recent study of psychological and behavioral outcomes of benign breast biopsy (BBB). Three synergistic studies are proposed: (1) prospective, longitudinal study of psychological and behavioral outcomes of an abnormal TVS screening result; (2) development and evaluation of brief psychoeducational interventions for managing the negative psychological and behavioral impact of BBB; and (3) development of brief psychoeducational interventions for managing the negative impact of an abnormal TVS screening result. The mentoring plan builds on the Principal Investigator's prior experience as PI for three pre-and postdoctoral research training grants. Mentoring will be provided for 4-6 trainees each year. All trainees participate in an existing research training program in behavioral oncology. The training program consists of core elements: (1) coursework; (2) participation in behavioral oncology research; and (3) participation in national professional meetings. These core elements enable achievement of training objectives: (1) knowledge of the behavioral oncology literature; (2) knowledge of the medical basis of cancer; (3) participation in all phases of research; (4) acquisition of skills critical to both quantitative and qualitative research; (5) familiarity with medical settings in which cancer detection, diagnosis, and treatment occurs; and (6) professional development. The overall goal of the training program is to prepare trainees for careers as independent investigators in behavioral oncology.
