As Strong as We Are United: Effects of Intrapersonal and Interpersonal Emotion Regulation on Quality of Life in Women with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Background: Women diagnosed with breast cancer are often subjected to negative emotions, resulting in higher levels of emotional burden and decreased levels of well-being and quality of life. The present study aims to compare the implementation of two regulatory levels, intrapersonal and interpersonal (as social sharing of emotions) and explore their impact on breast cancer patients’ perception of quality of life. Methods: Sixty-eight women previously diagnosed with the disease participated in this study, with a mean age of 63 years old (SD = 11.58). Data was collected through a self-report questionnaire to assess emotional experience, intrapersonal regulation, social sharing of emotions and breast cancer-related well-being and quality of life. Results: Data yielded that most of the participants regulated their negative emotions within social interactions and used more antecedent-focused strategies to cognitively reformulate the emotional episode. Moreover, interpersonal regulation had a greater impact on well-being and quality of life than intrapersonal regulation. In particular, the occurrence of sharing episodes and social interactions played an important and beneficial role on patients’ emotion regulation. Conclusions: These findings suggest that social sharing of emotions is an efficient process to help breast cancer patients better cope with the psychological and emotional burden of the disease, thus positively influencing the way they perceive their well-being and quality of life.