Inhibition of Emotional Expression in Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

To obtain a better understanding of the inhibited emotional expression often reported in breast cancer patients, the authors compared 48 breast cancer patients and 49 healthy women with respect to disturbed emotional processes (alexithymia), emotional disclosure, emotional expression, assertiveness, repression, and distress. The patient group showed significantly more ambivalence over emotional expression, more restraint, and more anxiety than the healthy controls. No differences were found between the 2 groups in alexithymia, expressing emotions in general, or willingness to talk with others about emotions. The image of the breast cancer patient that emerged in the study was that of a person who has conflicting feelings with regard to expressing emotions, is reserved and anxious, is self-effacing, and represses aggression and impulsiveness. These findings suggest that cancer patients' inhibited behavior is a reaction to the disease rather than a reflection of a personality characteristic predisposing an individual to (breast) cancer.

Measuring emotion regulation and emotional expression in breast cancer patients: A systematic review

“…It is a one-dimensional scale composed of 16 items (e.g., "When I am angry people around me usually know") scored on a 7-point Likert-type scale ranging from 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree). One study reported information regarding internal consistency (α = .80) (Servaes et al, 1999). Similar reliabilities have been found in other studies with different populations (e.g., α = .74 in a sample of college students; α = .77 in a sample of young adults) (Barr, Kahn, & Schneider, 2008;Niles et al, 2013. 12.…”

“…Four studies reported data regarding internal consistency (α's range from .69 to .73) Servaes et al, 1999;Tamagawa et al, 2013). A previous study found good one-year test-retest reliability (r = .75) (Giese-Davis & Spiegel, 2001).…”

“…Items are scored on a 5-point Likert-type scale ranging from 0 (never) to 4 (always). Two studies used the AEEQ and showed good internal consistency (α = .87 and .93) (Algoe et al, 2011;Servaes et al, 1999). While not widely used, good internal consistencies have also been found for the AEEQ in studies with other populations (e.g., α = .95 for young adults and α = .86…”

“…Information from 7 studies: Emotional expression α range from 0.78 to 0.91; Emotional processing α range from 0.32 to 0.93 Test-retest r = 0.72-0.73 7 studies: Batenburg et al, 2014;Cohen et al, 2011;Manne et al, 2004;Manne et al 2007;Puig et al, 2006;Stanton et al, , 2012 The Toronto Alexithymia Scale (TAS) 20 items (3 subscales: difficulty identifying feelings, difficulty describing 2 studies did not report any information; Information from 4 studies: 6 studies: Graves et al, 2005;Jensen-Johansen et al, 2013;Luminet et al, 2007;Mantani et al, 2007;Manna et al, 2007;Servaes et al, 1999 123 0 A C C E P T E D M A N U S C R I P T not report any information; Information from 4 studies:…”

“…Repressivedefensiveness α = 0.69, 0.71, 0.73, Test-retest r = 0.75 6 studies: GieseDavis et al, 2002GieseDavis et al, , 2006aGieseDavis et al, , 2006bGieseDavis et al, , 2008Servaes et al, 1999;Tamagawa et al, 2013 112 The Stanford Emotional Selfefficacy ScaleCancer (SESES-C) 28 items (7 subscales: expressing emotions, suppressing emotions, wishful thinking, problem-solving, positive reappraisal, avoidance, and escapism)…”