The main objective of this Research Career Award is to enable Dr. Audrain to become an independent cancer prevention and control investigator and to study interventions that promote psychological adjustment, health behaviors and breast screening adherence among women who have an elevated risk for breast cancer. This career development program will allow her to achieve three specific goals: (1) to acquire more in-depth training in cancer prevention, health promotion, research design and statistical analyses, (2) to teach cancer prevention and health promotion to post-doctoral fellows, residents and nurses, and (3) to develop an independent cancer prevention and control research program. The goal of the proposed research is to promote physical activity, psychological well-being, and adherence to breast screening in first-degree relatives (FDRs) of breast cancer patients. To achieve this, the investigators will provide a brief personalized health promotion counseling (PHPC) intervention which will involve personalized feedback regarding current levels of physical activity and personalized counseling in the adoption of a routine regimen of physical activity (e.g., 20-30 minutes at least 3 times/week). The effects of the PHPC intervention will be compared to the effects of a """"""""standard care"""""""" breast cancer information (BCI) intervention in a randomized trial. The subjects will be 360 women ages 40 and older who have a family history of breast cancer in at least one female FDR. Subjects will participate in a baseline telephone survey which will assess physical activity, psychological well-being, and breast screening behaviors. The PHPC intervention will be delivered during a two-hour individual visit with a health educator. The """"""""standard care"""""""" BCI intervention will involve the mailing of breast cancer education materials. Three-, 12-, and 24-month follow-up assessments will be used to assess the short- and long-term impact of PHPC vs. BCI on psychological well-being, physical activity, and breast screening adherence. Also, the investigators will determine which pretreatment psychological characteristics and sociodemographic variables impact how the PHPC intervention is received, thus influencing how PHPC impacts the outcome variables. Finally, they will use path modeling to test the mechanisms by which PHPC impacts on psychological and behavioral outcomes. The secondary project will extend this research to women who have undergone genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility. The information obtained from these projects should be applicable to groups at high risk for developing other cancers (e.g., colon cancer).
| Audrain-McGovern, Janet; Hughes, Chanita; Patterson, Freda (2003) Effecting behavior change: awareness of family history. Am J Prev Med 24:183-9 |
| Audrain, J; Schwartz, M; Herrera, J et al. (2001) Physical activity in first-degree relatives of breast cancer patients. J Behav Med 24:587-603 |
