Dispositional and Situational Avoidance and Approach as Predictors of Physical Symptom Bother Following Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Abstract

Background Few studies examine whether dispositional approach and avoidance coping and stressor-specific coping strategies differentially predict physical adjustment to cancer-related stress. Purpose This study examines dispositional and situational avoidance and approach coping as unique predictors of the bother women experience from physical symptoms after breast cancer treatment, as well as whether situational coping mediates the prediction of bother from physical symptoms by dispositional coping. Method Breast cancer patients (N=460) diagnosed within the past 3 months completed self-report measures of dispositional coping at study entry and of situational coping and bother from physical symptoms every 6 weeks through 6 months. Results In multilevel structural equation modeling analyses, both dispositional and situational avoidance predict greater symptom bother. Dispositional, but not situational, approach predicts less symptom bother. Supporting mediation models, dispositional avoidance predicts more symptom bother indirectly through greater situational avoidance. Dispositional approach predicts less symptom bother through less situational avoidance. Conclusion Psychosocial interventions to reduce cancer-related avoidance coping are warranted for cancer survivors who are high in dispositional avoidance and/or low in dispositional approach.

Stuck in the spin cycle: Avoidance and intrusions following breast cancer diagnosis

“…Consistent with this pattern, rates of clinically suggestive depressive symptoms declined from 32% at study entry to 23% by the 6‐month follow‐up indicating distress began to resolve over time in this sample (see Stanton et al, for detailed information on the trajectories of depressive symptoms in this sample). A similar pattern emerged for bothersome physical symptoms in this sample, with sharp declines from 6 to 10 months after diagnosis (Bauer et al ., ).…”

Thyroid cancer patients receiving an interdisciplinary team‐based care approach (ITCA‐ThyCa) appear to display better outcomes: Program evaluation results indicating a need for further integrated care and support

“…36 Also, warranted is investigating the impact of minimizing the ThyCa experience in light of excellent medical outcomes and how emphasizing medical facts reinforces vigilance-avoidance pathways shown to maintain the traumatic valence of life stressors 37 and its corollary poorer physical and psychological outcomes. 38,39…”

Chronic and episodic stress predict physical symptom bother following breast cancer diagnosis

“…The current study involves secondary analysis of data from a longitudinal study examining psychosocial and cancer-related predictors of depression and other outcomes among recently diagnosed breast cancer patients (Bauer et al, 2016; Marroquín et al, 2016; Stanton et al, 2015). Of 823 women approached to participate, 61 were ineligible (8%).…”

“…Covariates were selected using a combined theoretical and empirical approach (see Bauer et al, 2016). First, potential covariates were selected based on their theoretical relationship with the outcome.…”