| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
Psychosomatic Medicine, Vol 56, Issue 6 526-532, Copyright © 1994 by American Psychosomatic Society
ORIGINAL ARTICLES |
A Tibben, HJ Duivenvoorden, MF Niermeijer, M Vegter-van der Vlis, RA Roos and F Verhage
Clinical Genetics Centre, University Hospital, Leiden, The Netherlands.
This study assessed the 6-month follow-up effects of presymptomatic DNA testing for Huntington's disease (HD) in 73 individuals at 50% prior risk who were identified either as carriers of the HD gene (N = 29) or as noncarriers (N = 44). The subject's knowledge of being a gene carrier was expected to induce intrusive emotions, denial-avoidance behavior, and pessimistic expectancies of the future and adjustment problems. The Impact of Event Scale, the Beck Hopelessness Scale, and the General Health Questionnaire were used as standard measures of psychological distress. At the disclosure of the test results, carriers had a strong increase in pessimistic expectations but showed a decline to baseline levels 6 months later. Noncarriers reported a steep decline in hopelessness compared with their pretest conditions but had increased scores after 6 months. Six months after the disclosure of the test results, both gene carriers and noncarriers reported a significant decrease in unwanted intrusive thoughts about HD. Carriers showed a slight increase in denial-avoidance behavior, whereas noncarriers showed a clear decrease. Our observations might indicate that tested individuals found relief from the prior psychological distress and that they were able to acknowledge the impact of the test result on their future. An unresolved question is how the foreknowledge will affect carriers as they approach the impending onset of the disease. Longer observation periods (> 6 months after disclosure) are required to study changes of the impact of DNA test results over time.
This article has been cited by other articles:
 |
|
 |
|
  E. van Duijn, E.M. Kingma, and R.C. van der Mast Psychopathology in Verified Huntington's Disease Gene Carriers J Neuropsychiatry Clin Neurosci, November 1, 2007; 19(4): 441 - 448. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 R Timman, T Stijnen, and A Tibben Methodology in longitudinal studies on psychological effects of predictive DNA testing: a review J. Med. Genet., July 1, 2004; 41(7): e100 - e100. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 I. van Oostrom, H. Meijers-Heijboer, L. N. Lodder, H. J. Duivenvoorden, A. R. van Gool, C. Seynaeve, C. A. van der Meer, J. G.M. Klijn, B. N. van Geel, C. W. Burger, et al. Long-Term Psychological Impact of Carrying a BRCA1/2 Mutation and Prophylactic Surgery: A 5-Year Follow-Up Study J. Clin. Oncol., October 15, 2003; 21(20): 3867 - 3874. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 E. C. Sundin and M. J. Horowitz Horowitz's Impact of Event Scale Evaluation of 20 Years of Use Psychosom Med, September 1, 2003; 65(5): 870 - 876. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M C van Maarle, M E A Stouthard, and G J Bonsel Quality of life in a family based genetic cascade screening programme for familial hypercholesterolaemia: a longitudinal study among participants J. Med. Genet., January 1, 2003; 40(1): e3 - 3. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
|
|
M. Duisterhof, R. W Trijsburg, M. F Niermeijer, R. A C Roos, and A. Tibben Psychological studies in Huntington's disease: making up the balance J. Med. Genet., December 1, 2001; 38(12): 852 - 861. [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 B. Meiser and S. Dunn Psychological impact of genetic testing for Huntington's disease: an update of the literature J. Neurol. Neurosurg. Psychiatry, November 1, 2000; 69(5): 574 - 578. [Abstract] [Full Text] [PDF]
|
|
|
|
 |
|
 Psychological Impact of DNA Testing for Huntington's Disease Journal Watch Psychiatry, February 1, 1995; 1995(201): 4 - 4. [Full Text]
|
|
| HOME | HELP | FEEDBACK | SUBSCRIPTIONS | ARCHIVE | SEARCH | TABLE OF CONTENTS |
