Psychology, Sociology and Education
Permanent URI for this collectionhttps://eresearch.qmu.ac.uk/handle/20.500.12289/14
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Item “It Is Kind of Invisible Work”: Lived Experiences of Informal Caregivers of People with a Brain Tumor(Elsevier, 2025-06-11) Zanotto, Anna; McVittie, Chris; Goodall, Karen; Ellison, MarionObjectives Primary brain tumor presents symptoms related to both cancer and neurological condition. Due to unique characteristics and related care demands, neuro-oncology family caregivers experience different challenges compared to family members of other cancer survivors. The purpose of this study was to understand the informal caregivers’ lived experiences of coping, support needs, and changes in relationships while caring for family member or friend with a brain tumor. Methods In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 informal caregivers of people diagnosed with a primary brain tumor. The mean age of participants was 45 years (range 19-68 years), and 90% of participants were female (n = 9). Time since diagnosis of the family member ranged from 1 month to 13 years (mean = 4 years). Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis. Results Five interrelated themes were identified following the analysis: (1) Exhaustion and all-consuming role, (2) experiencing rupture and loss, (3) togetherness and isolation, (4) navigating healthcare and lack of support, and (5) anticipating grief. There was an overarching sense of loneliness, loss on multiple levels, and feeling invisible in their caregiving role. Conclusion Neuro-oncology caregiving was described as an extremely challenging and lonely experience. The current findings support calls for healthcare services redesign which would provide family-based cancer care. Implications for Nursing Practice Findings highlight the importance of involving informal caregivers of persons with a brain tumor in the treatment process and their important role be acknowledged.Item ‘Well, Our Goal Is to Achieve Sustainable Quiet and Security for Our People’: Negotiating Calls for Ceasefires in the Gaza War of 2014 in Mainstream English News Media by Israeli Spokespersons(PsychOpen, 2024-11-08) Sambaraju, Rahul; McVittie, ChrisIn this study, we examined how calls for ceasefires were negotiated by Israeli spokespersons in mainstream English news media during one instance of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict: the Gaza War of 2014. Recent scholarship in peace studies has begun to examine how ‘peace’ and ‘violence’ are variously constructed to advance vested positions. We extend this focus through a discursive psychological examination of another ostensibly desirable outcome in conflicts, namely ‘ceasefire’. Findings show that the desirability of ceasefires and their negotiation is closely bound to the management of stake and interest by both media persons and Israeli spokespersons. The latter neither explicitly rejected nor accepted calls for ceasefires. Instead, they downgraded ceasefires in favour of other versions of cessation of conflict, framed as ‘sustainable peace’. This allowed for the non-acceptance of ceasefires while, paradoxically, justifying ongoing and further military actions in Gaza. Together, these findings point to the relevance of psychological practices of justifying, managing stake, and avoiding seeming committed to violence in talking about conflict and peace. Findings are discussed in relation to research in peace and political psychology, and implications for the ongoing attacks on Gaza.Item P22.01.A “IT FEELS LIKE I’M GRIEVING FOR SOMEONE THAT IS STILL ALIVE”: A QUALITATIVE STUDY OF THE EXPERIENCES OF NEURO-ONCOLOGY CAREGIVERS [poster](Oxford University Press (OUP), 2024-10-17) Zanotto, A; Goodall, K; Ellison, Marion; McVittie, ChrisBACKGROUND Informal caregiving of someone with a primary brain tumor is highly distressing and associated with an increased risk of depressive symptoms, anxiety, and caregiver burden. A brain tumor diagnosis poses unique symptoms and challenges, including an uncertain prognosis and related existential concerns, as well as neurological symptoms such as cognitive deficits or personality changes. Due to these characteristics and related care demands, family caregivers experience a different set of challenges compared to other types of cancer. The purpose of this qualitative study was to understand in-depth the experiences of informal caregivers’ coping, support needs, and changes in relationships while caring for a loved one with a brain tumor. METHODS In-depth interviews were conducted with 10 informal caregivers (3 spouses/partners, 4 parents, 2 children, and 1 sibling) of people with low- or high-grade tumor. The mean age of participants was 42 years (range 19-68 years), and 90% of participants were female (n = 9). Interviews were transcribed verbatim and analyzed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). RESULTS Participants experienced grief and feeling unappreciated, and were advocating for the person diagnosed. Caregivers described grieving for the loss of their loved one as they were before the diagnosis, but also for the loss of their previous lifestyle and the loss of a future together as they imagined it to be. There was a sense of uniqueness in caring for someone with a brain tumor. Participants felt unappreciated by society, particularly when comparing their current role to their professional identities. They were involved in the care decisions, researching treatment and support availability, and advocating for the needs of the person diagnosed. CONCLUSION The current findings highlight the importance of involving informal caregivers of persons with a brain tumor in the treatment process. It is crucial that their role is acknowledged and appreciated during interactions with healthcare professionals. Implications for communication with clinicians will be discussed.Item “My Family Assumed I Was Going to Fight It”: Experiences of Social Support & Relationships After a Brain Tumor Diagnosis(AOTA Press, 2023-07-26) Zanotto, Anna; McVittie, Chris; Ellison, Marion; Goodall, KarenDate Presented 04/20/2023 The study explored the perceptions of social support and relationships after a primary brain tumor diagnosis. It was found that seeking support was associated with costs, and individuals did not always ask for it when needed. Primary Author and Speaker: Anna Zanotto Contributing Authors: Chris McVittie, Marion Ellison, Karen GoodallItem Perceptions of social support and relationships while living with a brain tumour: a qualitative study(Informa UK Limited, 2023-07-22) Zanotto, Anna; Goodall, Karen; Ellison, Marion; McVittie, ChrisObjective Having a brain tumour can disrupt social roles and networks. Despite growing evidence on the significance of social support in adjustment to chronic illness, research rarely focuses on the role of relationships when coping with a brain tumour. The current study sought to explore individuals’ experiences of social support, and the dynamics within their social relationships, following a diagnosis of a brain tumour. Methods Interpretative Phenomenological Analysis (IPA) was used as a methodological framework. Participants were 12 individuals (83% female) aged 29-54 years diagnosed with primary brain tumour (83% low grade), on average 3.5 years post-diagnosis. In-depth semi-structured interviews were conducted, transcribed verbatim, and analysed using IPA. Results Five themes were identified: Coping together in the family; Being concerned about others; Giving and receiving support; Needing to share the experience; and Negotiating independence. The results highlighted that the illness affected a whole network of closest relationships, and that coping was not an individual task. Conclusion Coping with the condition was deeply socially embedded. There was a cost associated with seeking support and participants did not always ask for it, in order not to burden the caregivers. Talking to others with similar diagnoses provided a sense of validation and belonging.Item ‘Make Them Wonder How You Are Still Smiling’: The Lived Experience of Coping with a Brain Tumour(SAGE Publications, 2023-04-07) Zanotto, Anna; Goodall, Karen; Ellison, Marion; McVittie, ChrisA brain tumour can be a life-threatening illness and cause unique symptoms compared to other types of cancer, such as cognitive or language deficits, or changes in personality. It is an exceptionally distressing diagnosis which can affect quality of life, even for those with a lowgrade tumour or many years after the diagnosis. This study sought to gain an in-depth understanding of the lived experience of adjustment to living with a brain tumour. Twelve individuals (83% female) with a primary brain tumour (83% low-grade) took part in the study. Participants were aged 29-54 years, on average 43 months following the diagnosis, and were recruited through the charitable support organisations in the United Kingdom. In-depth semistructured interviews were conducted, transcribed verbatim and analysed using interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA). Six inter-related themes were identified: making sense of the diagnosis, seeking empowerment, feeling appreciative, taking charge of coping, learning to accept, and negotiating a new normality. Notions of empowerment, gratitude, and acceptance throughout the illness journey were prominent in the participants’ narratives. Receiving sufficient information and initiating treatment were important in negotiation of control. The results highlighted what facilitates and hinders adaptive coping. Among the aspects which facilitated positive coping were: trust in clinician, feeling in control, feeling grateful or accepting. Participants on a ‘watch and wait’ approach, while feeling appreciative, perceived the lack of treatment as difficult and frustrating. Implications for patient-clinician communication are discussed, particularly for patients on a ‘watch and wait’ who might need additional support in adjusting.Item Attachment-related differences in dispositional anger and its experience and expression following an insult-based anger induction(Elsevier, 2022-08-22) Brodie, Zara P.; Goodall, Karen; Darling, Stephen; McVittie, ChrisVariation in how individuals experience and express anger has been linked to their attachment style, particularly in close interpersonal contexts. However, little research has investigated attachment-related differences in anger and aggression in non-attachment-based settings. This multi-method investigation reports two studies. The first investigated associations between anger and adult attachment dimensions in 270 participants. The second describes a lab-based anger provocation task which examined associations between attachment and pre-post-test change in self-reported anger, physiological responses, anger suppression and aggressive responding (N = 77). Results from study 1 indicate that attachment anxiety was a significant independent predictor of trait anger, while attachment avoidance was not. There were no significant interaction effects, suggesting distinct effects of attachment dimensions on anger. In study 2, attachment avoidance was negatively related to anger change scores from baseline to post-provocation and positively to anger suppression. Attachment anxiety was positively associated with aggressive responding. These findings support the high arousal-low control style previously associated with attachment anxiety, evidenced by elevated trait anger and aggressive responding. They also align with previous studies that support an association between attachment avoidance and emotion suppression, suggesting that the attachment framework can be usefully extended to understand anger and aggression in non-attachment-based contexts.Item “I don't mean extradimensional in a woo-woo sense”: Doing non-explanation in discussions of unidentified aerial phenomena(Elsevier, 2022-11-29) McVittie, Chris; McKinlay, AndyIn everyday talk, speakers commonly provide explanations that “make plain” or “make intelligible” prior talk. Little work, however, has examined talk in which speakers offer no explanation for what is being described. We consider talk about “unidentified aerial phenomena” (UAPs) from news media interviews. Interviewees distanced themselves from accountability for explaining UAPs or proposed multiple candidate explanations. Interviewers tabled their own potential explanations. Participants’ talk did not “make plain” or “make intelligible” phenomena being discussed. These findings show that explanations are a participants’ concern. These interactions allow discussion of topics of broad public interest, thereby “doing news”.Item Shaping the UK Government’s public communications on COVID-19: General, follower, other?(Taylor & Francis, 2021-12-30) McVittie, ChrisThe death rate in the United Kingdom from COVID-19 is, per capita, one of the highest in the world. Here I examine three ways in which the UK Prime Minster, Boris Johnson, has communicated to the UK population the actions that are necessary to deal with the pandemic. Using principles of discursive psychology and Bakhtinian analysis, I consider how Johnson’s descriptions discursively construct the government’s actions, the actions that are required of the population, and agency for reducing the spread of COVID-19. Relying on metaphors of war, claims to follow the science, and expressions of concerned advice, Johnson’s communications are shaped to manage the accountability of his government and himself for varying potential outcomes of the pandemic, allowing them to take credit if their efforts are treated as successful but to attribute responsibility elsewhere should incidence of COVID-19 illness and deaths continue to increase.Item Mobilizing race and racism: Visible race and invisible racism(The British Psychological Society, 2021-09-27) Sambaraju, Rahul; McVittie, ChrisSocial psychological research into racism has, to date, concerned itself mainly with racism as a form of prejudice. Different approaches to the study of racism have thus originated in understandings and theorizing of prejudice more generally. A particular focus of such work has been the apparent decline, within contemporary society, of instances of what might readily be recognized or treated as prejudice in public settings, and the explanation for this decline in, or absence of, explicit prejudice. Recent events, however, especially in the United States and United Kingdom, but also elsewhere, have been marked by overt concerns with racism. These events, public debate, and counterarguments, all suggest that concerns with race and racism have become more manifest in present society. It is this context that provides the background for this special section.