The role of the self in adjustment to cancer in elderly women.

One way that people may adjust to illness is through a redefinition of the self, especially with respect to the relationship between ideal self and actual self. To investigate psychological adjustment in community-dwelling elderly women, women with cancer (n = 17) were compared to women with other health problems (n = 30) based on measures of psychological distress and well-being, actual self, ideal self, and the discrepancy between actual self and ideal self. Women with cancer scored no differently than other women on measures of psychological well-being, psychological distress, and actual self, but their ideal-self ratings were lower. The positive adjustment of women with cancer may be the result of their ability to lower their ideal-self expectations, thereby reducing self-discrepancies that can result in psychological distress.