Brandão T, Schulz M S, Matos P M
Faculty of Psychology and Educational Sciences, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
CPUP - Center for Psychology, University of Porto, Porto, Portugal.
Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2018 Mar;27(2):e12830. doi: 10.1111/ecc.12830. Epub 2018 Jan 29.
Attachment insecurity is associated with difficulties in adapting to cancer. Accumulating evidence points to the influence of avoidant emotion processes in this association. This study explored this pathway by examining the association between attachment insecurity and quality of life in women with breast cancer, and by exploring the mediating role of two avoidant emotion processes in this association. Women with breast cancer (N = 155) completed measures of attachment, emotional suppression, emotional awareness and quality of life. Avoidance of attachment was positively associated with emotional suppression (β = .29, p < .01) and lack of emotional awareness (β = .27, p < .01), and negatively associated with quality of life (β = -.22, p < .05). Lack of emotional awareness partially mediated the relationship between attachment avoidance and quality of life (indirect effect β = -.12, p = .008). Attachment anxiety was not associated with any variable. Attachment avoidance may hinder the process of adaptation to breast cancer and difficulties in identifying and describing emotions may be partly responsible for this influence. Access to and ability to benefit from social and medical supports is likely to depend on being able to engage with others and recognise and process emotions effectively. Research and clinical implications are discussed.
依恋不安全感与适应癌症的困难相关。越来越多的证据表明回避型情绪过程在这种关联中发挥着作用。本研究通过考察乳腺癌女性的依恋不安全感与生活质量之间的关联，并探究两种回避型情绪过程在这种关联中的中介作用，来探索这一途径。乳腺癌女性（N = 155）完成了依恋、情绪抑制、情绪觉察和生活质量的测量。依恋回避与情绪抑制呈正相关（β = 0.29，p < 0.01）以及与缺乏情绪觉察呈正相关（β = 0.27，p < 0.01），且与生活质量呈负相关（β = -0.22，p < 0.05）。缺乏情绪觉察部分中介了依恋回避与生活质量之间的关系（间接效应β = -0.12，p = 0.008）。依恋焦虑与任何变量均无关联。依恋回避可能会阻碍适应乳腺癌的过程，而在识别和描述情绪方面存在的困难可能部分导致了这种影响。获得社会和医疗支持并从中受益的能力可能取决于能否与他人交往以及有效地识别和处理情绪。文中讨论了研究和临床意义。
