Syntactic cues can lead people to infer trait-like qualities about novel agents (Gelman & Heyman, 1999). When anagent is described with a novel label, for instance, as a carrot-eater, children and adults are more likely to think that theagent has an enduring trait compared to an agent described as eating carrots all the time. Although novel labels mayinfluence peoples trait inferences in this way, it is less clear this effect would hold for more familiar, real-life descriptions.Here, we examined whether linguistic cues (i.e., noun vs. verb forms) influence peoples beliefs about lasting stabilityof symptoms associated with clinical disorders. Specifically, we examined whether describing a person as, for instance,having depression vs. feeling extremely depressed, would affect participants inferences about the stability of that personsdepression. We observed no effect of syntactic form on trait inferences. We discuss the implications of this work forpsychological science.

Explanatory reasoning is a capacity at the core of human cognition. From an early age, children begin asking why-questions and seem to produce explanations to these questions with remarkable ease. However, the mechanisms underlyingexplanatory reasoning are only now being uncovered. Recently, Hoyos and Gentner (2017) revealed that comparison playsan important role in explanatory reasoning. To further examine this hypothesis, we conducted a study with childrenbetween the ages of 4 and 12 (N = 55) aimed at testing whether the similarity between two concepts affected childrensability to explain a relation between these concepts. Specifically, we tested whether children would more rapidly produceexplanations of why-questions like Why are trains bigger than cars? (high-similarity) compared to Why are trains biggerthan row boats? (low-similarity). Consistent with prior work, we found that children more rapidly produced explanationsof the relation between high-similarity concepts compared to low-similarity concepts.

Background

We compared the long-term health of adults with prior Kawasaki disease (KD) to controls and determined whether outcomes varied by coronary artery (CA) status.

Methods

We conducted a prospective cohort study of 258 KD subjects (mean 19 ± 9 years since KD) and 148 age-similar controls who completed extensive health questionnaires. KD subjects were divided into 2 groups, Cohort 1: 109 subjects followed since KD diagnosis at our institution; Cohort 2: 149 KD subjects diagnosed elsewhere.

Results

KD subjects and controls were of similar age at the time of questionnaire completion (p = 0.50). Overall, 128 subjects (including 60 in Cohort 1) reported normal CAs during and after KD. Compared to controls, KD subjects with normal CAs reported several medical conditions with increased prevalence including migraine headaches, shortness of breath, and leg pain with walking, among others. When limited to Cohort 1, KD subjects were significantly more likely to report chest pain (47% vs 16%, p < 0.001) or palpitations (23% vs 10%, p = 0.01) compared to controls. Prevalence of depression was similar (7% vs 5%, p = 0.73).

Conclusions

Despite always having normal CAs in the acute and subacute phases of KD, young adults with a history of KD with normal coronaries were more likely than controls to experience cardiovascular symptoms. These differences could be influenced by anxiety or depression, but report of depression was similar between groups. Whether these health differences reflect a heightened awareness of symptoms among KD subjects, or underlying vascular pathology (i.e. vasospasm, microvascular dysfunction, other) merits further study.

The study determined factors associated with patient-reported receipt of survivorship care plans and/or treatment summaries (SCP/TS). Two hundred forty female young adult cancer survivors ages 18-44 completed a web-based survey that included self-report on receiving SCP/TS. Mean age was 32.8 (standard deviation 5.8) years; 20% were diagnosed with cancer at age <21. Only 47% reported receipt of SCP/TS. Age <21 at diagnosis (odds ratio [OR] 2.0, 95% confidence interval [CI] 1.0-3.9), chemotherapy (OR 2.3, 95% CI 1.2-4.6), central nervous system radiation (OR 2.5, 95% CI 1.1-5.6), and bone marrow transplantation (OR 7.2, 95% CI 1.5-33.3) were significantly associated with higher odds of SCP/TS receipt. Improved integration of TS and SCP into cancer survivorship care is needed.

Background

Young adult female cancer survivors have unmet reproductive concerns and informational needs that are associated with poorer quality of life. The purpose of this study was to examine the association between current reproductive concerns and moderate to severe depression among young survivors.

Methods

This cross-sectional study included 200 female cancer survivors between the ages of 18 and 35 years who completed a Web-based survey measuring reproductive history, parenthood desires, reproductive concerns after cancer, and quality-of-life indicators.

Results

The mean age of the participants was 28 years (standard deviation, 4.4 years), and almost two-thirds were diagnosed within 5 years of survey completion. A multivariate logistic regression analysis controlling for education, duration of survivorship, and social support revealed an association between experiencing reproductive concerns and moderate to severe depression (odds ratio for each 5-unit increase in the Reproductive Concerns After Cancer [RCAC] score, 1.30; 95% confidence interval, 1.06-1.60). Among those with moderate to severe depression, 23% had high RCAC scores, whereas 6% of those with minimal to mild depression did (P < .001).

Conclusions

A higher level of reproductive concerns was associated with greater odds of experiencing moderate to severe depression. Almost a quarter of survivors in this sample reported moderate to severe depression, and addressing reproductive concerns represents one potential area of intervention for improving the psychosocial health of young survivors.

Purpose

Detailed cancer treatment information is important to fertility and pregnancy care of female young adult cancer survivors. Accuracy of self-report of treatments that impact fertility and pregnancy is unknown. This study assessed agreement between self-report and medical records on receipt of fertility-threatening treatments.

Methods

A national cohort study of female young adult cancer survivors reported cancer treatments via Web-based questionnaires. Primary cancer treatment records were abstracted. Self-reported exposure to fertility-threatening therapies (alkylating chemotherapy, stem cell transplant, pelvic radiation, hysterectomy, and/or oophorectomy) was compared to medical records. Logistic regression models estimated odds ratios (OR) for characteristics associated with inaccurate self-report of fertility-threatening therapies.

Results

The study included 101 survivors (mean age 28.2, SD 6.3). Lymphoma (33%), breast cancer (26%), and gynecologic cancers (10%) were the most common cancers. Accuracy of self-report was 68% for alkylating chemotherapy and 92-97% for radiation, surgery, and transplant. Significant proportions of survivors who were treated with transplant (8/13, 62%), alkylating chemotherapy (18/43, 42%), pelvic radiation (4/13, 31%), or hysterectomy and/or oophorectomy (3/13, 23%) did not report undergoing these therapies. In adjusted analysis, age ≤ 25 at diagnosis (OR 3.4, 95% CI 1.3-8.7) and recurrence (OR 6.0, 95% CI 1.5-24.4) were related to inaccurate self-report.

Conclusions

Female young adult cancer survivors have limited recall of fertility-threatening cancer treatment exposures. Reproductive health providers and researchers who need this information may require primary medical records or treatment summaries.

Implications for cancer survivors

Additional patient education regarding treatment-related reproductive risks is needed to facilitate patient engagement in survivorship. Obtaining a cancer treatment summary will help survivors communicate their prior treatment exposures to reproductive healthcare providers.

Purpose

We compared adoption consideration between female young adult cancer survivors and women of the same age in the general US population, hypothesizing that cancer survivors who desired children would report greater interest in adoption than an age-adjusted general population sample who desired children.

Methods

After age-standardizing the cancer survivor cohort to match the age distribution of the 2006-2010 National Survey for Family Growth (NSFG), we estimated adoption consideration among women age 18-35 years who wanted a (another) child in the two cohorts overall and within age groups. We assessed characteristics and concerns related to adoption consideration among cancer survivors.

Results

Among cancer survivors, 81.6 % (95 % CI 75.7-87.6) reported that they would consider adoption compared to 40.3 % (95 % CI 40.3-40.3) of women in the general population. While over 80 % of the cancer survivor sample reported that they would consider adoption, only 15 % of cancer survivors reported no concerns about adoption. The most common concerns were desire for a biological child (48 %), expense (45 %), adoption agency candidacy (41 %), and needing more information (39 %).

Conclusion

We observed a twofold higher interest in adoption when comparing the cancer survivor with the general population, suggesting that adoption is a consideration for many young women who have survived cancer.

Implications for cancer survivors

Adoption is an important family-building option for those who want to have a child but are unable to or choose not to have a biological child. However, young adult survivors may need more support to understand and navigate this process.

Purpose

Concerns about fertility and parenthood are important to many young adult (YA) female cancer survivors and are associated with poorer quality of life. We aimed to develop a new scale to comprehensively measure these concerns so that they can be better addressed.

Methods

Scale development involved: (1) seven focus groups to identify reproductive concerns among YA female cancer survivors and develop potential scale items followed by pilot testing and cognitive interviews to refine items, (2) administering surveys to 204 YA female survivors and conducting principal components analysis (PCA) with oblique rotation to identify underlying factors in the multidimensional scale, and (3) identification of preliminary construct validity evidence.

Results

We subjected 37 potential scale items to PCA, which indicated a six-factor solution. After removing low-loading and cross-loading items, we selected the three top loading items representing each factor. The 18-item Reproductive Concerns After Cancer scale (α = 0.82) assesses concerns about fertility potential, partner disclosure, child's health, personal health, acceptance, and becoming pregnant. As hypothesized, women who wanted to have a baby (p < 0.001) and those for whom having a biological child was very important (p < 0.05) had higher mean scores, indicating higher concerns.

Conclusions

The scale demonstrated good internal consistency and evidence of construct validity and holds promise for future clinical and research applications.

Implications for cancer survivors

An effective tool to identify concerns related to fertility and parenthood is essential for meeting the long-term reproductive health needs of young women who have survived cancer.

Purpose: Cancer survivors in their adolescent and young adult (AYA) years are an understudied population, possibly in part because of the high effort required to recruit them into research studies. The aim of this paper is to describe the specific recruitment strategies used in four studies recruiting AYA-aged female cancer survivors and to identify the highest yielding approaches. We also discuss challenges and recommendations. Methods: We recruited AYA-aged female cancer survivors for two studies conducted locally and two conducted nationally. Recruitment strategies included outreach and referral via: healthcare providers and clinics; social media and the internet; community and word of mouth; and a national fertility information hotline. We calculated the yield of each recruitment approach for the local and national studies by comparing the number that participated to the number of potential participants. Results: We recruited a total of 534 participants into four research studies. Seventy-one percent were diagnosed as young adults and 61% were within 3 years of their cancer diagnosis. The highest-yielding local recruitment strategy was healthcare provider and clinic referral. Nationally, social media and internet outreach yielded the highest rate of participation. Overall, internet-based recruitment resulted in the highest number and yield of participants. Conclusion: Our results suggest that outreach through social media and the internet are effective approaches to recruiting AYA-aged female cancer survivors. Forging collaborative relationships with survivor advocacy groups' members and healthcare providers also proved beneficial.

Background

Myocardial histology from autopsies of young adults with giant coronary artery aneurysms following Kawasaki disease (KD) shows bridging fibrosis beyond the territories supplied by the aneurysmal arteries. The etiology of this fibrosis is unknown, but persistent, low-level myocardial inflammation and microcirculatory ischemia are both possible contributing factors. To investigate the possibility of subclinical myocardial inflammation or fibrosis, we measured validated biomarkers in young adults with a remote history of KD.

Methods

We measured plasma calprotectin, galectin-3 (Gal-3), growth differentiation factor-15 (GDF-15), soluble ST2 (sST2), and serum procollagen type 1C-terminal propeptide (P1CP) in 91 otherwise healthy young adults with a remote history of KD and in 88 age-similar, healthy controls. KD subjects were stratified by coronary artery aneurysm (CAA) status and history of remote myocardial infarction (MI).

Results

After correction for multiple testing, calprotectin, Gal-3, and GDF-15 levels were significantly higher in subjects with persistent CAA (n = 26) compared with KD subjects with remodeled CAA (n = 20, p = 0.005, 0.001, 0.0036, respectively). In a multivariable regression model with CA status as the main predictor and adjusting for sex, MI history, and interval from KD onset, CA status was a significant predictor (Persistent CAA vs KD Normal CA) of calprotectin, Gal-3, GDF-15 and sST2 levels (p = 0.004, <0.001, 0.007, and 0.049, respectively).

Conclusions

These results suggest that ongoing inflammation and fibrosis may be occurring in individuals with persistent CAA. Longitudinal follow-up is needed to clarify the clinical significance of these elevated biomarker levels in this patient population that requires life-long monitoring.