Anxiety, anger and depression in breast cancer patients

In this work, anxiety, anger and depression (negative emotionality) in cancer patients are studied. A research with 240 women is carried out. The total sample is divided in two matched groups on the main sociodemographical variables: (a) clinical group, composed of 120 women, in treatment for breast cancer; (b) control group, made up of 120 women from the general population. Results show that cancer patients present: (1) lowest levels of anxiety (trait, cognitive and motor systems, anxiety in evaluation and interpersonal situations), assessed by the ISRA (Miguel-Tobal & Cano-Vindel, 1994); (2) lowest levels of anger (trait, temperament, state, and external expression), next to highest levels of anger control (control and internal expression), assessed by the STAXI (Spielberger, 1991); (3) highest levels of depression, assessed by the BDI (Beck et al., 1961). In general, these results support another previous in which we had found that a great number of cancer patients show a certain repressive coping style, characterized by low anxiety scores on the self-reports and high social desirability. Possible consequences of this coping style on the health and its implications on a general model about emotion and adaptation are discussed.