Abstract
Objective: The current study assessed breast cancer patients' somatic symptoms during the first six months post diagnosis and examined the moderating role of coping flexibility (i.e., trauma-focused and forward-focused coping strategies) on the association between reported somatic symptoms three months after breast cancer diagnosis and somatic symptoms six months after diagnosis. Method and measures: An international sample of 702 women diagnosed with breast cancer from four countries (Finland, Israel, Italy, Portugal) completed self-reported questionnaires at three time points: at the time of diagnosis (M0), three months post diagnosis (M3), and six months post diagnosis (M6). The questionnaires included the coping flexibility scale and questions about demographics, medical data, and somatic symptoms. Results: The highest level of somatic symptoms was reported after three months post diagnosis (M3), as compared to M0 and M6. Both trauma-focused and forward-focused coping strategies moderated the relationship between somatic symptoms at M3 and somatic symptoms at M6. Conclusion: The findings highlight the importance of assessing somatic symptoms soon after breast cancer diagnosis and throughout the early phase of treatment. Coping flexibility can buffer the stability of the somatic symptoms during this initial phase.
Original language | American English |
---|---|
Article number | 115219 |
Journal | Social Science and Medicine |
Volume | 308 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Sep 2022 |
Bibliographical note
Funding Information:This work was supported by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No 777167 .
Funding Information:
This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program under grant agreement No 777167 . Rawan Dahabre is supported by the Bracha Ben Ziv Memorial prize in excellence and innovation social work research and by the Maurice and Faye Kaufman Memorial prize in excellence. Dr Lauren Kelada provided critical and English-language review of the manuscript.
Funding Information:
This work was supported by the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation programme under grant agreement No 777167.This project has received funding from the European Union's Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation program under grant agreement No 777167. Rawan Dahabre is supported by the Bracha Ben Ziv Memorial prize in excellence and innovation social work research and by the Maurice and Faye Kaufman Memorial prize in excellence. Dr Lauren Kelada provided critical and English-language review of the manuscript.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2022 Elsevier Ltd
Keywords
- Breast cancer
- Coping flexibility
- Quality of life
- Somatic symptoms