RESEARCH ARTICLE
Association between Type-D Personality and Affective (Anxiety, Depression, Post-traumatic Stress) Symptoms and Maladaptive Coping in Breast Cancer Patients: A Longitudinal Study
Luigi Grassi1, 2, *, Rosangela Caruso1, 2, Martino Belvederi Murri1, 2, Richard Fielding3, Wendy Lam3, Silvana Sabato1, Silvia De Padova4, Maria Giulia Nanni1, 2, Tatiana Bertelli4, Laura Palagini1, Luigi Zerbinati1, 2
Article Information
Identifiers and Pagination:
Year: 2021Volume: 17
Issue: Suppl-1, M4
First Page: 271
Last Page: 279
Publisher ID: CPEMH-17-271
DOI: 10.2174/1745017902117010271
Article History:
Received Date: 14/3/2021Revision Received Date: 26/8/2021
Acceptance Date: 12/10/2021
Electronic publication date: 31/12/2021
Collection year: 2021
open-access license: This is an open access article distributed under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International Public License (CC-BY 4.0), a copy of which is available at: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/legalcode. This license permits unrestricted use, distribution, and reproduction in any medium, provided the original author and source are credited.
Abstract
Background:
Type-D (distressed) personality has not been prospectively explored for its association with psychosocial distress symptoms in breast cancer patients.
Objective:
The objective of the study was to test the hypothesis that Type-D personality can be associated with psychosocial distress variables in cancer over a 2-point period (6 month-follow-up).
Aims:
The aim of the study was to analyze the role of Type-D personality in relation to anxiety, depression, post-traumatic stress symptoms, general distress, and maladaptive coping among cancer patients.
Methods:
145 breast cancer patients were assessed within 6 months from diagnosis (T0) and again 6 months later (T1). The Type-D personality Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Depression subscale (HAD-D), the Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI-18) Anxiety subscale, the Distress Thermometer (DT), the Post-traumatic Symptoms (PTS) Impact of Event Scale (IES), and the Mini Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC) Anxious Preoccupation and Hopelessness scales were individually administered at T0 and T1.
Results:
One-quarter of cancer patients met the criteria for Type-D personality, which was stable over the follow-up time. The two main constructs of Type-D personality, namely social inhibition (SI) and negative affectivity (NA), were related to anxiety, depression, PTS, BSI-general distress and maladaptive coping (Mini-MAC anxious preoccupation and hopelessness). In regression analysis, Type-D SI was the most significant factor associated with the above-mentioned psychosocial variables, both at T0 and T1.
Conclusion:
Likewise other medical disorders (especially cardiology), Type-D personality has been confirmed to be a construct significantly related to psychosocial distress conditions and maladaptive coping that are usually part of assessment and intervention in cancer care. More attention to personality issues is important in oncology.
