We request funding for one year to complete a thorough analysis of existing data assessing psychosocial aspects of living with lung cancer, to prepare publications describing this research, and to plan an intervention study to verify and elaborate the descriptive findings. Structural equation models derived from explicit substantive hypotheses will be formulated and fit to these data with the LISREL IV Computer Program. A study to evaluate how modest psychosocial interventions can help patients deal with specific cancer problems, such as pain and social dependency, will be designed after interpreting the LISREL analysis. If found effective, we anticipate that the intervention techniques could be readily adapted by interested health care professionals for use with many kinds of cancer. To encourage other psychosocial cancer research, we plan to develop a manual for our battery of instruments with complete instructions and psychometric properties.
