The correlation analysis carried out to test this

hypothesis revealed that 10 of the 13 vulnerability scales

were negatively correlated with co-morbidity. The correla-

tion between co-morbidity and turmoil was significant at the

.05 level [ r (10) = -.61, p< .05]. Table 30 lists the

values of the Pearson correlation coefficients for these

scales.

 In general, there was some indication that individuals

who did not have other physical conditions that hastened

death appeared to experience higher levels of psychological

distress during the terminal phase of cancer than those who

had other physical conditions. In addition to the relation-

ship noted between co-morbidity and turmoil, there were nega-

tive but non-significant relationships with powerlessness,

worthlessness, and denial. The small sample size was noted

in this case. However, on the basis of the finding con-

cerning co-morbidity and turmoil, the null hypothesis was

rejected.


 Hypothesis five: There is no relationship between the

 duration of the illness from cancer and psychosocial

 variables.

 A greater degree of denial was associated ( p 1.05) with

a shorter duration of illness. Individuals who had been