Distancing, self-esteem, and subjective well-being in head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: Distancing (i.e. construing oneself as dissimilar to a negatively-stereotyped group) preserves self-esteem and may benefit other domains of subjective well-being. Head and neck cancer (HNC) is stigmatized because major risk factors include avoidable lifestyle variables (smoking, alcohol consumption, and human papilloma virus). Because the benefits of coping efforts, such as distancing, are most evident when people are under stress, we hypothesize that the psychosocial benefits of distancing will be most pronounced when cancer and its treatment interfere substantially with participation in valued activities and interests (i.e. high illness intrusiveness). OBJECTIVE: To test whether distancing preserves self-esteem and other domains of subjective well-being (SWB) in HNC, especially when illness intrusiveness is high. METHODS: Five hundred and twenty-two HNC outpatients completed a semantic-differential measure of perceived similarity to the 'cancer patient' and measures of illness intrusiveness, self-esteem, depressive symptoms, and psychological well-being in structured interviews. Evaluations of the 'cancer patient' reflected cancer stereotypes. RESULTS: A statistically significant interaction supported the central hypothesis: When people held negative stereotypes, those who construed themselves as similar to the 'cancer patient' reported lower self-esteem than those who construed themselves as dissimilar. Distancing did not benefit other SWB variables. Some results were counter-intuitive: e.g. Emotional distress increased with increasing illness intrusiveness when people did not hold negative cancer stereotypes, but when they held highly negative stereotypes, distress decreased with increasing illness intrusiveness. CONCLUSIONS: Overall, distancing preserved self-esteem in people with HNC and was associated with benefits in other SWB domains.

Negative cancer stereotypes and disease-specific self-concept in head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: Life-threatening diseases, such as head and neck cancer (HNCa), can stimulate the emergence of a new disease-specific self-concept. We hypothesized that (i) negative cancer-stereotypes invoke distancing, which inhibits the adoption of a disease-specific self-concept and (ii) patient characteristics, disease and treatment factors, and cancer-related stressors moderate the phenomenon. METHODS: Head and neck cancer outpatients (N = 522) completed a semantic-differential measure of disease-specific self-concept (perceived similarity to the 'cancer patient') and other self-report measures in structured interviews. Negative cancer-stereotypes were represented by the number of semantic-differential dimensions (0-3) along which respondents evaluated the stereotypic 'cancer patient' negatively (i.e., negative valence). We tested the two-way interactions between negative valence and hypothesized moderator variables. RESULTS: We observed significant negative valence × moderator interactions for the following: (i) patient characteristics (education, employment, social networks); (ii) disease and treatment factors (cancer-symptom burden); and (iii) cancer-related stressors (uncertainty, lack of information, and existential threats). Negative cancer stereotypes were consistently associated with distancing of self from the stereotypic 'cancer patient,' but the effect varied across moderator variables. All significant moderators (except employment and social networks) were associated with increasing perceived similarity to the 'cancer patient' when respondents maintained negative stereotypes; perceived similarity decreased when people were employed or had extensive social networks. Moderator effects were less pronounced when respondents did not endorse negative cancer stereotypes. DISCUSSION: When they hold negative stereotypes, people with HNCa distance themselves from a 'cancer patient' identity to preserve self-esteem or social status, but exposure to cancer-related stressors and adaptive demands may attenuate these effects.

The burden of stress in head and neck cancer.

BACKGROUND: Head and neck cancer (HNCa) introduces numerous stressors. We developed the Cancer-Related Stressors Checklist (CRSC), which documents exposure to seven categories of common stressors and emotional distress. We surveyed HNCa survivors and examined associations among exposure to cancer-related stressors, illness intrusiveness (i.e., cancer-induced interference with lifestyles, activities, and interests), and distress. We also investigated whether reported exposure rates differ between self-administered and interviewer-administered measures. METHODS: Respondents included HNCa survivors, stratified by sex, who participated in one of two clinical studies (N1 = 162; N2 = 408) examining the psychosocial impact of illness intrusiveness. All completed the CRSC, the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale, and the Illness Intrusiveness Ratings Scale. Study 1 respondents self-administered the instruments; an interviewer administered them in Study 2. We gathered clinical data by self-report and from medical records. RESULTS: High inter-rater reliability corroborated the 8-subscale structure of the CRSC (Krippendorff alpha = .92). Cancer-related stressor exposures differed significantly across categories (interpersonal stressors were most common). Controlling for empirically identified covariates and distress, exposure to each cancer-related stressor correlated significantly and uniquely with illness intrusiveness. All stressor categories correlated significantly with distress, but coefficients were low to moderate, substantiating incremental validity. Respondents reported fewer exposures when materials were self-administered as compared with interviewer-administered, but reported distress levels did not differ by mode of administration. CONCLUSIONS: Cancer-related stressors are common and burdensome in HNCa and, therefore, merit clinical attention. Identifying specific stressors will allow more targeted and effective interventions to alleviate and prevent distress.