This Article Figures Only Full Text Full Text (PDF) Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Services Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Download to citation manager Request Permissions Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Google Scholar Articles by Dougall, A. L. Articles by Baum, A. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dougall, A. L. Articles by Baum, A. Related Collections Genetics Stress and Coping Cancer

Coping With Genetic Testing for Breast Cancer Susceptibility

From the University of Pittsburgh Cancer Institute, Departments of Psychiatry and Psychology (A.L.D., A.W.S., T.J.S.), Department of Medicine (D.M.P., W.S.R.), University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.

Address correspondence and reprint requests to Andrew Baum, Department of Psychology, University of Texas at Arlington, Box 19528, Arlington, TX 76019. E-mail: baum{at}uta.edu

Objective: To examine how women cope with genetic testing for heightened susceptibility to breast cancer.

Methods: Participants were 126 White women (age = 44 ± 9 years) who were participants in a larger study of genetic testing for risk of different chronic diseases. All women were at higher-than-average risk for breast cancer due to a personal and/or family history and were considering genetic testing. Distress (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, Impact of Event Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) was assessed at four assessments; one before and three after the decision to have genetic testing. The majority of women (n = 100) had testing. The follow-up assessments occurred at 1 week after receiving results (or 3–4 months after baseline if testing was not elected), and then at 3 and 6 months after the second assessment. Coping (Brief COPE) was measured at the first and third assessments.

Results: Coping was relatively stable over time and did not vary as a function of genetic test results. Active coping strategies were used more often by women with a personal cancer history than by women without cancer. Use of avoidant coping was reliably and positively associated with distress over time independent of cancer history and test result.

Conclusions: The identification of specific coping styles that were associated with more or less distress is useful as a means of identifying and targeting coping interventions and predicting which participants may be at risk for distress.

Key Words: coping • genetic testing • breast cancer • BRCA 1 • BRCA 2 • stress

Abbreviations: BRCA 1 = breast cancer 1 gene; BRCA 2 = breast cancer 2 gene; CGP = Cancer Genetics Program; SCL-90R = Symptom Checklist-90 Revised; GSI = Global Severity Index; MANCOVA = multivariate analysis of covariance.