Experiencing anxiety in breast cancer survival: Does perceived emotional intelligence matter?

Abstract

Background The specialized literature shows that breast cancer (BC) survivors have a certain vulnerability to express anxiety about the changes that the disease entails in their lives. Breast cancer is a specific adverse circumstance, but women who have not experienced this disease may also be exposed to other anxiety‐provoking life crises. In both cases, perceived emotional intelligence (PEI)—consisting of emotional attention (EA), emotional clarity (EC), and emotional repair (ER)—seems to impact on such emotional distress. Objective To identify the mechanism through which PEI may mediate the relationship between BC survivorship, compared to a controlled group, and anxiety. Methods 636 women were divided into two groups: 56 BC survivors and 580 healthy controls. The Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale and the Trait Meta‐Mood Scale were administered. Results BC survivors differed from the control group in showing lower levels of EA and higher levels of ER. The global mediation model showed an explanatory capacity of 27% on anxiety (p = 0.000). Four significant indirect effects were obtained: two acted as risk pathways and the other two as protective pathways. The strongest effect indicated an increase in anxiety in BC survivors due to the mediated effect of low EA and EC. Conclusions Knowing the impact of PEI on anxiety on disease survival could be the empirical basis for developing interventions to improve psychological adjustment at the end of treatments.