Christopher John Recklitis, PhD, MPH

Research Overview

Dr. Recklitis' research interests are in the areas of health psychology and mental health outcomes of oncology patients. His research is focused on understanding the psychological late-effects of cancer, the development of effective screening measures for detecting distress, and the best methods for encouraging health protective behaviors in cancer survivors. Dr. Recklitis' projects include an evaluation of a mental health screening program for a long-term survivor clinic, a study of depression and suicidality in adult survivors of childhood cancer, an investigation of response bias in self-reported quality-of-life in Hodgkin's disease survivors, and an intervention study using Ultraviolet Light Photography to increase sun protection behaviors in cancer survivors. He is the Principal Investigator of Project REACH, a longitudinal study of health outcomes in more than00 locally treated cancer survivors. His work has been supported by grants from the National Cancer Institute, Lance Armstrong Foundation, American Foundation for the Prevention of Suicide, and the Childhood Brain Tumor Foundation.

About Christopher Recklitis

Dr. Recklitis completed his PhD in clinical psychology at Boston University, and his Masters degree in Public Health at the Harvard School of Public Health.

Key Publications

• Ostroff J, & Recklitis C. Healthy Lifestyle Behaviors. Chapter in: Preventing Cancer Recurrence. Atlanta: American Cancer Society. In Press.
   
• Recklitis C, & Liptak, C. Psychosocal Functioning and Quality of Life. Chapter in: Handbook of Long Term Care of the Childhood Cancer Survivor. New York: Springer. In Press.
   
• Coscarelli A, Recklitis C, & Ahmed K. Long-Term Psychological Well-Being: Strategies for Assessment and Intervention. Chapter in: Health Services for Cancer Survivors. New York: Springer, 2011. 125-151.
   
• Recklitis C, & Pirl, W. Depression and Suicide in Long-Term Cancer Survivors. Chapter in: Personalized Approach to Cancer Rehabilitation and Survivorship. Pittsburg, PA: Oncology Nursing Society, 2011.
   
• Recklitis CJ, Sanchez Varela V, Ng A, Mauch P, Bober SL. Sexual Functioning in Long-Term Survivors of Hodgkin's Lymphoma. Psychooncology. 2010 Nov;19(11):1229-33.
   
• Recklitis CJ, Diller L, Li X, Najita J, Robison LL, Zeltzer L. Suicide Ideation in Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer: A Report from the Childhood Survivor Study. J Clin Oncol, 2010; 28(4):655-61.
   
• Recklitis C, Casey R, Zeltzer L. Psychosocial care of the child and family. Chapter in : Nathan & Oski's Oncology of Infancy and Childhood. Philadelphia, PA: Saunders Elsevier, 2009. 1291-1319.
   
• Recklitis CJ, Rodriguez P. Screening Childhood Cancer Survivors with the Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18): Classification Agreement with the Symptom Checklist-90-Revised (SCL-90-R). Psycho-Oncology 2007; 16, 429-436.
   
• O'Leary T, Diller L, Recklitis CJ. The Effects of Response Bias on Self-Reported Quality-of-Life Among Childhood Cancer Survivors. Quality of Life Research, 2007; 16, 1211-20.
   
• Recklitis CJ, Licht I, Ford J, Oeffinger K, Diller, L. Screening Adult Survivors of Childhood Cancer with the Distress Thermometer: A Comparison with the SCL-90-R. Psycho-Oncology, 2007; 16, 1046-9.
   
• Recklitis CJ, Parsons SK, Shih MC, Mertens A, Robison LL, Zeltzer L. Factor structure of the brief symptom inventory-18 in adult survivors of childhood cancer: results from the childhood cancer survivor study. Psychol Assess. 2006 Mar;18(1):22-32.
   
• Hudson MM, Mertens AC, Yasui Y, Hobbie W, Chen H, Gurney JG, Yeazel M, Recklitis CJ, Marina N, Robison LR, Oeffinger KC,.Health status of adult long-term survivors of childhood cancer: a report from the Childhood Cancer Survivor Study. JAMA. 2003 Sep 24;29.
   
• Recklitis C, O'Leary T, Diller L.Utility of routine psychological screening in the childhood cancer survivor clinic. J Clin Oncol. 2003 Mar 1;21(5):787-92.