Breast Cancer Research Today is a free monthly online journal that collates and summarizes the latest research about Breast Cancer, including details on symptoms, genetics, screening, treatment, information.

Emotional self-efficacy, stressful life events, and satisfaction with social support in relation to mood disturbance among women living with breast cancer in rural communities.

Palesh OG, Shaffer T, Larson J, Edsall S, Chen XH, Koopman C, Turner-Cobb JM, Kreshka MA, Graddy K, Parsons R

Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Stanford University School of Medicine, Stanford, California 94305-5718, USA. opalesh@stanford.edu

This study evaluated the relationships of emotional self-efficacy, stressful life events, and social support with mood disturbance among women diagnosed with breast cancer who live in rural communities. Eighty-two women completed measures of demographic characteristics, medical status, and psychosocial variables. Using multiple regression analysis, we found that greater mood disturbance was related to having less emotional self-efficacy (p < 0.001) and to having experienced more stressful life events (p = 0.02), while satisfaction with social support was not significantly related to mood disturbance (adjusted R2 = 0.39). Women living with breast cancer in rural communities who have experienced multiple stressful life events may have an increased risk for mood disturbance, whereas having greater emotional self-efficacy may provide resilience against mood disturbance.

Published 2 March 2006 in Breast J, 12(2): 123-9.
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