Department of Psychology, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT 06269-1020, USA.
Psychooncology. 2013 Jul;22(7):1630-8. doi: 10.1002/pon.3195. Epub 2012 Oct 12.
We investigated predictors of emotional (worry) and cognitive (perceived risk) dimensions of fear of recurrence (FOR) and their relationships with psychological well-being in a sample of young and middle-aged adult cancer survivors.
Eligible participants were survivors between 18 and 55 years old and diagnosed from 1 to 3 years prior. A total of 250 participants were recruited, and 167 responded to a 1-year follow-up. Demographic and psychosocial variables were assessed at baseline, and FOR and psychological well-being were assessed at follow-up.
Race was associated with the cognitive dimension of FOR (such that minority race perceived less risk of recurrence), but no demographics were associated with the emotional dimension. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that spirituality was the only predictor of perceived risk independent of the effect of race, even when worry about general health was controlled. For the emotional dimension of FOR, avoidance coping predicted higher worry, but when controlling for a general tendency to worry about one's health, none of the psychosocial variables predicted worries about cancer's return. In addition, only worry about cancer's return predicted negative affect and intrusive thoughts.
These results suggest that FOR comprises distinct dimensions, each of which has different implications for adjustment. These findings may have important clinical implications in developing interventions to deal with both FOR and more general health anxieties in cancer survivors.
我们调查了情绪（担忧）和认知（感知风险）维度的恐惧复发（FOR）的预测因素及其与心理幸福感的关系，这些因素在年轻和中年成年癌症幸存者的样本中。
符合条件的参与者是年龄在 18 至 55 岁之间，且在 1 至 3 年前被诊断为癌症的幸存者。共招募了 250 名参与者，其中 167 名在 1 年后随访。在基线时评估人口统计学和社会心理变量，在随访时评估 FOR 和心理幸福感。
种族与 FOR 的认知维度有关（即少数族裔感知复发的风险较低），但没有任何人口统计学变量与情绪维度有关。层次回归分析表明，灵性是独立于种族效应预测感知风险的唯一因素，即使控制了对一般健康状况的担忧。对于 FOR 的情绪维度，回避应对预测更高的担忧，但当控制一般担心健康的倾向时，没有任何社会心理变量可以预测对癌症复发的担忧。此外，只有对癌症复发的担忧预测了负面情绪和侵入性思维。
这些结果表明，FOR 包含不同的维度，每个维度对调整都有不同的影响。这些发现可能对开发干预措施以应对癌症幸存者的 FOR 和更普遍的健康焦虑具有重要的临床意义。
