Breast cancer and social relationship coping efficacy: validation of the Greek version.

The Social Relationship Coping Efficacy scale (SRCE) was designed to assess cancer patients' efficacy for maintaining social support and social relationships. The purpose of the study was to confirm the psychometric quality and utility of a Greek-language version of the (SRCE) scale. The study included 116 women with breast cancer, who underwent surgery at a public hospital In Greece. The SRCE scale was translated using standard procedures and then culturally adapted for use in Greece. Psychometric evaluation of the SRCE-Greek scale included reliability, structural validity and convergent validity analyses. The SRCE-Greek scale demonstrated strong internal consistency (Cronbach a 0.87), and split-half reliability (Spearman-Brown, 0.747; Guttman, 0.742). The structural construct validity was confirmed with factor analysis using principal axis factor analysis. Construct validity was further supported with convergent validity with the Family Crisis Oriented Personal Evaluation Scales (F-COPES) (Acquiring Social Support, Reframing) and Family Support scale. The Greek language SRCE has strong internal consistency reliability and construct validity, as well as satisfactory convergent validity. Results provide support for the use of the SRCE-GR as a research and clinical instrument for the assessment of breast cancer patient's self-efficacy with regard to maintaining and enhancing close social relationships and social support.

The Role of Optimism, Social Constraints, Coping, and Cognitive Processing in Psychosocial Adjustment Among Breast Cancer Survivors.

The social-cognitive processing model suggests that a socially constrained environment may impede adjustment to a chronic illness. The present study primarily investigated the mediating psychological pathways through which social constraints on cancer-related disclosure, low optimism, disengagement-oriented coping, and brooding could be associated with low levels of psychosocial adjustment. One hundred twenty-five female breast cancer survivors participated in a cross-sectional study. Path analysis was used to examine the proposed model. Low optimism, increased social constraints, and higher levels of brooding appeared to be risk factors for poor psychosocial adjustment to breast cancer. Disengagement-oriented coping and brooding partially mediated the relationship between social constraints and adjustment. Brooding totally mediated the relationship between disengagement-oriented coping and adjustment. The current findings provide support for the value of the social-cognitive processing model among breast cancer survivors. The mapping of psychological pathways of adjustment to breast cancer may have useful clinical implications for better adjustment outcomes.

Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale: Factor structure, reliability, and validity assessment in a sample of Greek breast cancer patients.

The study and measurement of psychosocial adjustment is important for evaluating patients' well-being, and assessing the illness's course, treatment's success, and patients' recovery. In this study, internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the Greek version of the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale-Self-Report (PAIS-SR) were examined. Demographic and psychosocial data were collected from a sample of 243 women with breast cancer, recruited from September 2011 to December 2012. With some exceptions in specific items, the original conceptually-derived PAIS-SR subscales emerged in a seven-factor solution. Social Environment, Job and Household Duties, and Psychological Distress accounted for more of the total variance than other subscales. PAIS-SR showed good internal consistency reliability, with Cronbach's alpha coefficients >0.62. Correlations of PAIS-SR domains with measures of quality of life and posttraumatic stress symptoms supported the convergent validity of the PAIS-SR and its significance for cancer research. The Greek version of the PAIS-SR has acceptable internal consistency reliability and construct validity, as well as satisfactory convergent validity. Results provide some suggestions for the development of programs to evaluate adjustment status and implement psychosocial interventions among breast cancer survivors.

Psychosocial factors related to posttraumatic growth in breast cancer survivors: a review.

In this article, we reviewed quantitative studies regarding psychosocial factors associated with posttraumatic growth (PTG) in patients with breast cancer to elucidate our understanding of a model of PTG process. PsycInfo, Embase, Medline, Web of Knowledge were used for the search. Only quantitative, English written studies that used the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI) measure administered to breast cancer patients were included. The initial search yielded 90 publications. Of those, 22 studies satisfied inclusion criteria and formed the basis of the review. Personality traits (e.g., optimism and openness), cognitive processing of cancer (e.g., deliberate rumination), perceived threat of the disease, coping strategies (e.g., problem-focused), and social support were identified to be related to PTG in women with breast cancer. Demographic characteristics (e.g., age at cancer diagnosis) were also found to play a key role in PTG. The findings of this review provided support to Tedeschi and Calhoun's functional-descriptive model of PTG process. Further directions for research and clinical implications are provided.

Exploring global meaning in Greek breast cancer patients: validation of the Life Attitude Profile--Revised (LAP-R).

OBJECTIVE: The aim of this study was to examine the factor structure and the psychometric properties of the Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R) among a sample of Greek breast cancer patients, and to test the fit of a structural equation model with one latent factor underlying the measured LAP-R dimensions. METHODS: A total of 153 patients with breast cancer completed the LAP-R. Convergent validity was assessed by examining the correlations between the LAP-R subscales and measures of perceived stress, intrusiveness, mental health, and coping styles. Known-groups validity was also assessed. RESULTS: Principal axis factor analysis with promax rotation yielded four factors: purpose-coherence-vacuum, choice, death acceptance, and goal seeking. Internal consistency reliability of the subscales and convergent validity of LAP-R were satisfactory. LAP-R was able to detect differences in meaning between different age groups. Confirmatory factor analysis provided support for a single-factor model including a latent meaning-variable indicated by the observed subscales. CONCLUSIONS: The LAP-R is a reliable and valid measure of global meaning in life, when administered to breast cancer patients. The use of LAP-R in evaluating meaning-centered psychotherapy interventions for patients with cancer is emphasized.

The Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC) scale: construct validation with a Greek sample of breast cancer patients.

This investigation is a Greek validation of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer (Mini-MAC) scale, an instrument derived from the MAC and designed to measure styles of coping with cancer. A sample of 225 women diagnosed with breast cancer completed this questionnaire. Statistical analyses using structural equation modeling (SEM) confirmed Watson's original five first-order factors underlying Mini-MAC items: Helplessness/Hopelessness (HH), Anxious Preoccupation (AP), Fighting Spirit (FS), Avoidance (AV) and Fatalism (F). On a higher-order level, SEM and Multidimensional Scaling revealed two second-order factors: adaptive coping (being measured by FS, AV, and F) and maladaptive coping (being measured by HH and AP). Results are discussed in terms of the theoretical framework needed to account for the relationships among Mini-MAC factors and the refinement of the applications of SEM in the study of the mental adjustment to cancer construct.