Self-blame and adjustment to breast cancer.

PURPOSE

To examine the relationship between self-blame and illness adjustment in women with breast cancer.

DESIGN

Descriptive, correlational design.

SETTING

Outpatient facilities of two metropolitan medical centers.

SAMPLE

234 women diagnosed with stage I or II breast cancer.

METHODS

Structured and semistructured interviews using the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS), the Global Adjustment to Illness Scale (GAIS), an attributions and blame interview, and several questions about control over the cause and course of the cancer.

MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES

Self-blame, controllability, and adjustment to illness.

FINDINGS

39% of the sample reported some self-blame. Analysis of variance indicated that subjects with high levels of self-blame had poorer scores on the PAIS and GAIS.

CONCLUSIONS

The findings indicate the need for further study of the self-blame/adjustment relationship. Researchers must clarify the characteristics that compromise adjustment in patients with breast cancer.

IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING PRACTICE

The findings support the importance of assessing self-blame and providing information to discourage its use by patients with breast cancer.