title: Rationality, emotional expression and control: psychometric characteristics of a questionnaire for research in psycho-oncology.
abstract: In some studies rationality, anti-emotionality and the control of (negative) emotions were found to be psychological risk factors for cancer. In the present study instruments were developed in order to cross-validate the role of the 'rationality/anti-emotionality (RAE)'-concept and the 'emotional expression and control (EEC)'-concept. The psychometric characteristics of a RAE-scale and EEC-scales were investigated in 4302 healthy women attending a breast cancer screening programme in The Netherlands. Principal components analysis revealed three factors for the RAE-scale: (1) Rationality; (2) Emotionality; and (3) Understanding. The EEC-scales consist of three factors that indicate: (1) expression of emotions to oneself; (2) expression of emotions towards others; and (3) control of emotions. These RAE and EEC scales can be of importance in psycho-oncological research, especially when: (1) the more refined subscales are used; and (2) age of the subjects is taken into account.
authors.affiliation: Dept of Medical Psychology, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: E M
authors.initials: EM
authors.lastname: Bleiker
authors.forename: H M
authors.initials: HM
authors.lastname: van der Ploeg
authors.forename: J H
authors.initials: JH
authors.lastname: Hendriks
authors.forename: J W
authors.initials: JW
authors.lastname: Leer
authors.forename: W C
authors.initials: WC
authors.lastname: Kleijn
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000517:prevention & control / Q000523:psychology*; D003674:Defense Mechanisms; D004644:Emotions; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008403:Mass Screening; D008875:Middle Aged; D009426:Netherlands; D010555:Personality Inventory / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D011594:Psychometrics; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D012307:Risk Factors