Process of coping with radiation therapy.

Evaluated the ability of self-regulation and emotional-drive theories to explain effects of an informational intervention entailing descriptions of the experience in concrete objective terms on outcomes of coping with radiation therapy (RT) in men (N = 84) with prostate cancer. The experimental group had significantly less disruption in function during and for 3 months following RT than the comparison group. The intervention had no significant effect on negative mood. Consistent with self-regulation theory, similarity between expectations and experience and degree of understanding of the experience mediated the effect of the intervention on function. Emotional-drive theory was not supported. These results are consistent with prior research with surgical patients and support the relevance of the information-processing explanations of self-regulation theory to coping with stressful experiences associated with physical illness.