FROM HUMAN PAPILLOMAVIRUS (HPV) TO CERVICAL-CANCER - PSYCHOSOCIAL PROCESSES IN INFECTION, DETECTION, AND CONTROL

Certain high-risk types of human papillomaviruses (HPVs), which are se xually transmitted, persistent, and currently epidemic in the United S tates, are important etiologic agents in cervical cancer, constituting an acute health threat to women. Consequently, adherence to recommend ed Papanicolaou (Pap) screening and colposcopy regimens is crucial for early diagnosis and treatment which enhance survival dramatically Thi s article reviews research and theory on major psychosocial factors re levant to the transmission, onset, and course of this infection. The r eview focuses on cognitive-affective variables and processes (e.g. mon itoring-blunting, anxiety, depression) that underlie-and potentially u ndermine-adherence to relevant health-protective behaviors. Identifica tion of these processes should facilitate interventions to help women, particularly from low-income, inner city populations who are at highe st risk, to adhere to essential follow-up regimens.