Objective: Psychological distress is common in cancer patients during the diagnostic phase. Research demonstrated that anxiety, depression and defense mechanisms may influence physical and psychological well-being in patients with malignant tumors. The present retrospective study investigated the associations between clinical and psychological characteristics of cancer patients waiting for the diagnosis, focusing on metastatic cancer (MC) and breast cancer (BC). Methods: Patients with a new diagnosis of cancer referring to a Clinical Oncology Unit in Central Italy were interviewed during the 2017 for psychological assessment. Double-blind information about anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, defense style, and cancer diagnosis were available for the 567 patients included in this study. T-test, chi-squared and regression analyses were performed to detect associations between psychological variables and the presence of metastasis (MC) in the whole sample and in the subgroup of breast cancer (BC) patients. Results: Female gender and younger age were associated with anxiety, depres-sion, and maladaptive defense style. A significant positive relationship was found between presence of metastasis and symptoms of anxiety. Depression resulted significantly more frequent in BC, while there was a trend close to statistical significance in MC. Immature defense style was widely used by BC women, with a score close to statistical significance. Conclusions: This retrospective study provided empirical evidence of the relationship between psychological functioning and clinical characteristics of cancer. In line with previous research, our findings confirmed the peculiar psychological functioning of BC patients. Further investigations are needed to understand how the diagnosis of cancer may influence the individual psychological functioning and vice versa.

Conversano, C., Di Giuseppe, M., Miccoli, M., Ciacchini, R., Di Silvestre, A., Sterzo, R.l., et al. (2020). Retrospective analyses of psychological distress and defense style among cancer patients. CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHIATRY, 17(4), 217-224 [10.36131/cnfioritieditore20200403].

Retrospective analyses of psychological distress and defense style among cancer patients

Di Giuseppe M.
;
2020-01-01

Abstract

Objective: Psychological distress is common in cancer patients during the diagnostic phase. Research demonstrated that anxiety, depression and defense mechanisms may influence physical and psychological well-being in patients with malignant tumors. The present retrospective study investigated the associations between clinical and psychological characteristics of cancer patients waiting for the diagnosis, focusing on metastatic cancer (MC) and breast cancer (BC). Methods: Patients with a new diagnosis of cancer referring to a Clinical Oncology Unit in Central Italy were interviewed during the 2017 for psychological assessment. Double-blind information about anxiety, depression, sleep disorders, defense style, and cancer diagnosis were available for the 567 patients included in this study. T-test, chi-squared and regression analyses were performed to detect associations between psychological variables and the presence of metastasis (MC) in the whole sample and in the subgroup of breast cancer (BC) patients. Results: Female gender and younger age were associated with anxiety, depres-sion, and maladaptive defense style. A significant positive relationship was found between presence of metastasis and symptoms of anxiety. Depression resulted significantly more frequent in BC, while there was a trend close to statistical significance in MC. Immature defense style was widely used by BC women, with a score close to statistical significance. Conclusions: This retrospective study provided empirical evidence of the relationship between psychological functioning and clinical characteristics of cancer. In line with previous research, our findings confirmed the peculiar psychological functioning of BC patients. Further investigations are needed to understand how the diagnosis of cancer may influence the individual psychological functioning and vice versa.
2020
Pubblicato
Rilevanza internazionale
Articolo
Comitato scientifico
Settore M-PSI/08 - PSICOLOGIA CLINICA
English
Adaptiveness
Anxiety
Breast cancer
Defense style
Depression
Metastasis
Somatization
Conversano, C., Di Giuseppe, M., Miccoli, M., Ciacchini, R., Di Silvestre, A., Sterzo, R.l., et al. (2020). Retrospective analyses of psychological distress and defense style among cancer patients. CLINICAL NEUROPSYCHIATRY, 17(4), 217-224 [10.36131/cnfioritieditore20200403].
Conversano, C; Di Giuseppe, M; Miccoli, M; Ciacchini, R; Di Silvestre, A; Sterzo, Rl; Gemignani, A; Orrù, G
Articolo su rivista
File in questo prodotto:
File Dimensione Formato  
12. Retrospective analyses of psychological distress and defensive style among cancer patients.pdf

solo utenti autorizzati

Licenza: Non specificato
Dimensione 964.61 kB
Formato Adobe PDF
964.61 kB Adobe PDF   Visualizza/Apri   Richiedi una copia

I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.

Utilizza questo identificativo per citare o creare un link a questo documento: https://hdl.handle.net/2108/317917
Citazioni
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.pmc??? ND
  • Scopus 25
  • ???jsp.display-item.citation.isi??? 21
social impact