Evidence map›Paper›PMID 31078056›Full record

SynthesisClinical psychology review2019

The relationship between acceptance of cancer and distress: A meta-analytic review.

Ekin Secinti, Danielle B Tometich, Shelley A Johns, Catherine E Mosher

Abstract readMeta-AnalysisReview
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Synthesis in Clinical psychology review, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 64 papers, 4 of them syntheses that pooled it.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
64citing papers in PubMed, 4 pooled it
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

64 citing papers in PubMed, 4 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.

  1. Cancer patients' perceptions of the meaning in life: a qualitative meta-synthesis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025
    Pooled it
  2. Pooled it
  3. Health-related quality of life in adults with low-grade gliomas: a systematic review.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2023
    Pooled it
  4. Meaning in Life and the Acceptance of Cancer: A Systematic Review.International journal of environmental research and public health · 2022
    Pooled it
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  7. Observational
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  9. Review
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  15. Acceptance in Patients With Cancer: A Scoping Review.Cancer reports (Hoboken, N.J.) · 2025
    Article
  16. Article
  17. Article
  18. Article
  19. Article
  20. Article

4 more citing papers are in PubMed but not listed here.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

4 authors.

Ekin SecintiDepartment of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 North Blackford Street, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA. Electronic address: esecinti@iupui.edu.
Danielle B TometichDepartment of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 North Blackford Street, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Shelley A JohnsCenter for Health Services Research, Regenstrief Institute, 1101 West 10th Street, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA; Department of Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, 545 Barnhill Drive, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA; Fairbanks Center for Medical Ethics, Indiana University Health Methodist Hospital, 1800 North Capital Avenue, Noyes E649, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.
Catherine E MosherDepartment of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 North Blackford Street, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN 46202, USA.

Funding

Interdisciplinary Training in Cancer Prevention and ControlT32CA117865 · NCI · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · PI Victoria Lee Champion, Catherine E Mosher · 2016 to 2026
$2.4M
Telephone Symptom Management for Advanced Lung Cancer Patients and CaregiversK07CA168883 · NCI · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · PI MOSHER, CATHERINE E · 2013 to 2017
$682k
Predicting Surgical Decisions of High-Risk UC PatientsK07CA104701 · NCI · UNIV OF NORTH CAROLINA CHAPEL HILL · PI RINI, CHRISTINE · 2005 to 2009
$674k
Research and Training for Behavioral Oncology InterventionsK05CA175048 · NCI · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · PI CHAMPION, VICTORIA LEE · 2014 to 2018
$484k
A prospective examination of change in executive function and physical activity in older breast cancer survivors.F31CA220964 · NCI · INDIANA UNIVERSITY INDIANAPOLIS · PI TOMETICH, DANIELLE · 2018 to 2019
$44k
NCI NIH HHS F31 CA220964NCI NIH HHS K05 CA175048NCI NIH HHS K07 CA168883NCI NIH HHS T32 CA117865
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

Acceptance of cancer has long been recognized as playing a critical role in psychological adjustment to the illness, but its associations with distress outcomes have not been quantitatively reviewed. Informed by coping theory and third wave conceptualizations of acceptance, we first propose an integrated model of acceptance of cancer. Then we examine the strength of the relationships between acceptance of cancer and general and cancer-specific distress in cancer patients and potential moderators of these relationships. CINAHL, Embase, MEDLINE, PsycINFO, PsycARTICLES, and Web of Science databases were searched. Random-effects meta-analyses were conducted on 78 records (N = 15,448). Small-to-moderate, negative, and significant relationships were found between acceptance of cancer and general distress (r = -0.31; 95% CI: -0.36 to -0.26, k = 75); cancer-specific distress (r = -0.18; 95% CI: -0.21 to -0.14, k = 13); depressive symptoms (r = -0.25; 95% CI: -0.31 to -0.19, k = 41); and anxiety symptoms (r = -0.22; 95% CI: -0.30 to -0.15, k = 29). Age, marital status, and stage of cancer were identified as significant moderators. Findings suggest that acceptance of cancer may be important to target in interventions to reduce general and cancer-specific distress in cancer patients. Future research should focus on developing multifaceted measures of acceptance and identifying theory-based psychological and social processes that lead to greater acceptance.

Indexed as

Psychological DistressAnxietyDepressionHumansNeoplasmsStress, PsychologicalAcceptanceAnxietyCancerDepressive symptomsMeta-analysisPsychological distress

Identifiers

PMID31078056
PMCPMC7010402

What Socratic holds

Textmetadata
LicenceTDM
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the Socratic graph.