Abstract
Recent investigations have shown increased disease progression among breast cancer patients with a “repressive” coping style characterized as: passive, conforming, inclined to deny physical symptoms and emotionally unexpressive. The Millon Behavioral Health Inventory (MBHI) scales which delineate three discrete repressive coping styles include the: Introversive, Cooperative and Respectful. Forty-four women recently diagnosed (within four weeks) with non-metastatic (N = 32) or metastatic (N = 12) breast carcinoma, responded to the MBHI upon admission for treatment of their disease at a cancer treatment unit. All subjects received mastectomy as well as chemotherapy, radiation and/or endocrine therapy. These 44 cancer patients were compared to 34 control subjects, comprising women who were seen at a colposcopy clinic for follow-up of a suspicious pap smear which was ultimately shown to be benign or consisted of mild dysplasia. Non-metastatic, metastatic and control subjects were compared with respect to coping style and psychological distress. The breast cancer patients were more likely to employ a repressive coping style as compared to non-cancer patients who utilized a “sensitizing” coping strategy predominantly. Cancer patients with the most severe prognosis (metastasis) were the only group within the study to attain a clinically significant mean base rate score on the respectful scale. Results suggest that the incidence of repressive coping styles may be disproportionately high among breast cancer patients.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 245-258 |
Number of pages | 14 |
Journal | Psychology & Health |
Volume | 3 |
Issue number | 4 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Oct 1 1989 |
Keywords
- MBHI psychological distress
- Repressive coping style
- breast cancer
- metastasis
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Applied Psychology
- Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health