Reconceptualizing mental health in cancer survivorship

Darren Haywood; Roman Kotov; Robert F Krueger; Aidan G C Wright; Miriam K Forbes; Evan Dauer; Frank D Baughman; Susan L Rossell; Nicolas H Hart

doi:10.1016/j.trecan.2024.05.008

Reconceptualizing mental health in cancer survivorship

Trends Cancer. 2024 Aug;10(8):677-686. doi: 10.1016/j.trecan.2024.05.008. Epub 2024 Jun 17.

Authors

Darren Haywood¹, Roman Kotov², Robert F Krueger³, Aidan G C Wright⁴, Miriam K Forbes⁵, Evan Dauer⁶, Frank D Baughman⁷, Susan L Rossell⁸, Nicolas H Hart⁹

Affiliations

¹ Human Performance Research Centre, INSIGHT Research Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, NSW, Australia; Department of Mental Health, St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia; Department of Psychiatry, Melbourne Medical School, Dentistry and Health Sciences, University of Melbourne, Parkville, VIC, Australia; School of Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia. Electronic address: [email protected].
² Department of Psychiatry & Behavioral Health, Stony Brook University, Stony Brook, NY, USA.
³ Department of Psychology, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.
⁴ Department of Psychology, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, Michigan, USA; Eisenberg Family Depression Center, University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI, USA.
⁵ School of Psychological Sciences, Macquarie University, Sydney, NSW, Australia.
⁶ Human Performance Research Centre, INSIGHT Research Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, NSW, Australia; Department of Mental Health, St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia.
⁷ School of Population Health, Faculty of Health Sciences, Curtin University, Bentley, WA, Australia.
⁸ Department of Mental Health, St. Vincent's Hospital Melbourne, Fitzroy, VIC, Australia; Centre for Mental Health and Brain Sciences, Swinburne University of Technology, Hawthorn, VIC, Australia.
⁹ Human Performance Research Centre, INSIGHT Research Institute, Faculty of Health, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Sydney, NSW, Australia; Caring Futures Institute, College of Nursing and Health Sciences, Flinders University, Adelaide, SA, Australia; Exercise Medicine Research Institute, School of Medical and Health Sciences, Edith Cowan University, Perth, WA, Australia; Cancer and Palliative Care Outcomes Centre, Faculty of Health, Queensland University of Technology (QUT), Brisbane, QLD, Australia; Institute for Health Research, University of Notre Dame Australia, Perth, WA, Australia.

PMID: 38890021
DOI: 10.1016/j.trecan.2024.05.008

Abstract

Mental health for cancer survivors in both research and clinical applications has strongly adopted a traditional nosological approach, involving the classification of psychopathology into discrete disorders. However, this approach has recently faced considerable criticism due to issues such as high comorbidity and within-disorder symptom heterogeneity across populations. Moreover, there are additional specific issues impacting the validity of traditional approaches in cancer survivorship populations, including the physiological effects of cancer and its treatments. In response, we provide the case for the hierarchical dimensional approach within psycho-oncology, in particular the Hierarchical Taxonomy of Psychopathology (HiTOP). We discuss not only the potential utility of HiTOP to research and clinical applications within psycho-oncology, but also its limitations, and what is required to apply this approach within cancer survivorship.

Keywords: DSM; HiTOP; cancer survivorship; diagnosis; mental health; psycho-oncology.

Publication types

Review

MeSH terms

Cancer Survivors* / psychology
Cancer Survivors* / statistics & numerical data
Humans
Mental Disorders* / epidemiology
Mental Disorders* / psychology
Mental Disorders* / therapy
Mental Health* / statistics & numerical data
Neoplasms* / mortality
Neoplasms* / psychology
Neoplasms* / therapy
Survivorship