Needy or resilient? How women with breast cancer think about peer support

Personality Profiles and Psychological Adjustment in Breast Cancer Patients

Dispositional personality characteristics may play a role in psychosocial adjustment to any disease, including cancer.

PURPOSE

The purpose of this study is to identify personality profiles in breast cancer patients and to determine whether these profiles are associated with psychological adjustment or psychopathology.

METHODS

Participants were 109 women (mean age, 52.01) diagnosed with breast cancer. They completed the Millon Clinical Multiaxial Inventory-III (MCMI-III), the Life Orientation Test-Revised (LOT-R), the Satisfaction with Life Scale, and the Positive and Negative Affect Scales.

RESULTS

The analysis revealed two different personality profiles: (a) one group, comprising 38.23% of the sample, was characterized by paranoid, negativistic, and dependent personality traits and was considered as a "vulnerable group"; and (b) another group (61.77%) was characterized by compulsive, histrionic, and narcissistic personality traits and was considered as a "psychologically adjusted group". The vulnerable group scored higher than the psychologically adjusted group on all clinical syndromes, with scores above 60 on the anxiety, somatoform, dysthymic, and bipolar scales (score on anxiety being above 75); in contrast, the psychologically adjusted group did not reach a base rate score of 60 on any of the clinical syndromes, showing no manifestations of psychopathology. Additionally, the vulnerable group scored lower than the psychologically adjusted group on optimism, life satisfaction, and positive affect, but higher on negative affect.

CONCLUSIONS

The results suggest that personality traits could affect the psychological adjustment of breast cancer survivors. We discuss the implications of belonging to each group and highlight the importance of early identification of vulnerable women in order to facilitate clinical and psychological support.

A prospective and population-based inquiry on the use and acceptability of peer support for women newly diagnosed with breast cancer

The degree to which peer support is used and accepted as a supportive care approach by women with breast cancer is unclear. We examine peer support use across three major modalities (i.e. support groups, online platforms, one-on-one) and identify enablers and barriers to peer support using the beliefs framework of the theory of planned behaviour. A population-based sample of women newly diagnosed with breast cancer (n = 3105) who were on average 54.08 weeks since diagnosis completed mailed surveys at baseline measuring beliefs about peer support and intention. Peer support use was measured via telephone interview at baseline and prospectively at 12-month follow-up (n = 2780). In all, 37% of women had used at least one peer support service since diagnosis (support group = 20%, online = 18%, one-on-one = 10%). A path analysis examined what beliefs enabled or acted as barriers to peer support use at follow-up adjusting for past behaviour (i.e. baseline use), sociodemographic characteristics, and treatment. In order of relative strength, enablers included beliefs that peer support is an outlet for honest expression of feelings (β = .35), a source of empathy (β = .30), approved by doctors (β = .07), and approved by family/partner (β = .04). Barriers were beliefs that it encourages dwelling about breast cancer (β = - .06) and involves exposure to negative stories about this disease (β = - .04). Strategies which communicate the potential emotional support benefits of a shared illness experience and social approval by others, particularly the medical profession, may help to promote acceptance of peer support and encourage service uptake in breast cancer.