Paul Baerwald School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel.
Department of Communication Disorders, Tel-Aviv University, Tel-Aviv, Israel.
Soc Sci Med. 2022 Sep;308:115219. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2022.115219. Epub 2022 Jul 14.
The current study assessed breast cancer patients' somatic symptoms during the first six months post diagnosis and examined the moderating role of coping flexibility (i.e., trauma-focused and forward-focused coping strategies) on the association between reported somatic symptoms three months after breast cancer diagnosis and somatic symptoms six months after diagnosis.
An international sample of 702 women diagnosed with breast cancer from four countries (Finland, Israel, Italy, Portugal) completed self-reported questionnaires at three time points: at the time of diagnosis (M0), three months post diagnosis (M3), and six months post diagnosis (M6). The questionnaires included the coping flexibility scale and questions about demographics, medical data, and somatic symptoms.
The highest level of somatic symptoms was reported after three months post diagnosis (M3), as compared to M0 and M6. Both trauma-focused and forward-focused coping strategies moderated the relationship between somatic symptoms at M3 and somatic symptoms at M6.
The findings highlight the importance of assessing somatic symptoms soon after breast cancer diagnosis and throughout the early phase of treatment. Coping flexibility can buffer the stability of the somatic symptoms during this initial phase.
本研究评估了乳腺癌患者在诊断后最初六个月内的躯体症状，并检验了应对灵活性（即创伤聚焦和前摄聚焦应对策略）对乳腺癌诊断后三个月报告的躯体症状与诊断后六个月躯体症状之间关联的调节作用。
来自四个国家（芬兰、以色列、意大利、葡萄牙）的 702 名乳腺癌患者组成了一个国际样本，在三个时间点完成了自我报告问卷：诊断时（M0）、诊断后三个月（M3）和诊断后六个月（M6）。问卷包括应对灵活性量表以及关于人口统计学、医疗数据和躯体症状的问题。
与 M0 和 M6 相比，M3 时报告的躯体症状最严重。创伤聚焦和前摄聚焦应对策略均调节了 M3 时的躯体症状与 M6 时的躯体症状之间的关系。
研究结果强调了在乳腺癌诊断后不久和治疗早期阶段评估躯体症状的重要性。应对灵活性可以缓冲初始阶段躯体症状的稳定性。
