Optimism, mental health, and quality of life: a study among breast cancer patients.

Fifty one breast cancer patients participated in a cross-sectional study developed to assess the relation between their level of optimism, positive and negative mental health, and their quality of life. Patients were measured with the Life Orientation Test (LOT), the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale (CES-D), and the Functional Living Index-Cancer (FLIC). T-tests revealed that these breast cancer patients reported more optimism than pessimism, more positive than negative mental health, and the majority of the sample reported doing well on each qualify life domain of the FLIC. As expected, individuals who reported more depressive symptoms also reported less qualify of life. Breast cancer patients who scored lower on pessimism showed more positive mental health, but they showed no relation to negative mental health. Women who scored higher on optimism reported better social and mental functioning on the FLIC than women who scored low on optimism.