| Summary: | 碩士 === 中原大學 === 心理學研究所 === 101 === Background and purpose: Advances in the early medical detection and cancer treatment resulted in increased survival rates and led cancer as a chronic illness. As the result, cancer survivors faced the stress of cancer across life span and affected their illness adaptation. The purpose of this study was to use Leventhal’s common sense model (CSM) to explore the fear of recurrence (FoR), negative emotions and coping styles in cancer survivors’ stress-coping process which had an impact on health related quality of life (HRQOL) and also to examine the influence of cancer progression on these factors.
Methods: A prospective design was used in this study. One hundred and twenty participants were recruited from head and neck cancer patients in Lai’s (2010) research. Participants completed the Personal Demographic Data, the Brief Coping Orientations to Problems Experienced Scale (Brief COPE), the Fear of Progression Questionnaire-Short Form (FoP-Q-SF), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy Scale-Head and Neck(FACT-H & N).
Results: There were significant correlations among cancer progression, mental representation of illness (FoR and negative emotions), coping styles, and HRQOL. The major findings were as follows: (a) FoR, negative emotions and HRQOL showed a difference between the progression group and the progression-free group. The experience of cancer progression had a negative impact on cancer survivors’ stress-coping process. (b) Negative emotions were most highly associated with avoidant emotional coping. Also, FoR with the impact of negative emotions was most highly associated with avoidant emotional coping. When controlling for negative emotions, FoR was most highly associated with problem-focus coping and active emotional coping than avoidant emotional coping. (c) At follow-up, problem-focus coping and active emotional coping elevated the effect of FoR on HRQOL. Avoidant emotional coping was a mediator of the relations between depression and HRQOL. At whole stress-coping process, Coping styles at baseline, FoR and negative emotions at follow-up and baseline could significantly predict HRQOL at follow-up.
Discussions: Findings of this study showed that cancer progression, FoR and negative emotions were determinants of HRQOL. There was evidence to support the idea about the cognitive and emotional processes in CSM. Helping cancer survivors’ illness adaptation by lessening FoR and negative emotions may prove to be a useful suggestion for future research and clinical interventions.
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