Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
. 2008 Apr;35(2):188-97.
doi: 10.1007/s12160-008-9016-0. Epub 2008 Mar 7.

Stress and quality of life in breast cancer recurrence: moderation or mediation of coping?

Hae-Chung Yang  1 , Brittany M Brothers, Barbara L Andersen
Affiliations

Stress and quality of life in breast cancer recurrence: moderation or mediation of coping?

Hae-Chung Yang et al. Ann Behav Med. 2008 Apr.

Abstract

Background/purpose: Diagnosis with breast cancer recurrence often brings high levels of stress. Successful coping to alleviate stress could improve patients' quality of life (QoL). The intervening role coping plays between stress and QoL may depend on the types of stress encountered and the types of coping strategies used. The present study investigates the longitudinal relationships between stress, coping, and mental health QoL.

Methods: Breast cancer patients recently diagnosed with recurrence (N = 65) were assessed shortly after the diagnosis and 4 months later. Four moderation and four mediation models were tested using hierarchical multiple regressions and path analyses. In the models, either traumatic stress or symptom-related stress at recurrence diagnosis was a predictor of mental health QoL at follow-up. Both engagement and disengagement coping strategies were tested as moderators or mediators between stress and QoL.

Results: Engagement coping moderated the effect of symptom stress on mental health QoL, whereas disengagement coping mediated the effects of both traumatic stress and symptom stress on mental health QoL.

Conclusion: The findings imply that interventions teaching engagement coping strategies would be important for patients experiencing high symptom stress, while discouraging the use of disengagement coping strategies would be important for all patients.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Fig. 1
Fig. 1
Interaction between symptom stress and engagement coping at diagnosis of breast cancer recurrence predicting mental quality of life 4 months later. SD standard deviation
Fig. 2
Fig. 2
Path models testing coping as a mediator between stress at diagnosis of breast cancer recurrence and mental quality of life 4 months later. Standardized path coefficients are provided. QoL quality of life. *p<0.05. **p<0.01
See this image and copyright information in PMC

References

    1. Okamura M, Yamawaki S, Akechi T, Taniguchi K, Uchitomi Y. Psychiatric disorders following first breast cancer recurrence: Prevalence, associated factors and relationship to quality of life. Jpn J Clin Oncol. 2005;35:302–309. - PubMed
    1. Hotopf M, Chidgey J, Addington-Hall J, Ly KL. Depression in advanced disease: A systematic review. Part 1. Prevalence and case finding. Palliat Med. 2002;16:81–97. - PubMed
    1. Mahon SM, Cella DF, Donovan MI. Psychosocial adjustment to recurrent cancer. Oncol Nurs Forum. 1990;17:47–52. discussion 53−44. - PubMed
    1. Folkman S, Lazarus RS. Coping and Emotion. In: Monat A, Lazarus RS, editors. Stress and Coping: An Anthology. Columbia University Press; New York: 1991. pp. 207–227.
    1. Andersen BL, Shapiro CL, Farrar WB, Crespin T, Wells-DiGregorio S. Psychological responses to cancer recurrence: A controlled prospective study. Cancer. 2005;104:1540–1547. - PMC - PubMed

Publication types