Self-blame and adjustment to breast cancer.
OBJECTIVE
To examine the relationship between self-blame and illness adjustment in women with breast cancer.


METHODS
Descriptive, correlational design.


METHODS
Outpatient facilities of two metropolitan medical centers.


METHODS
234 women diagnosed with stage I or II breast cancer.


METHODS
Structured and semistructured interviews using the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale (PAIS), the Global Adjustment to Illness Scale (GAIS), an attributions and blame interview, and several questions about control over the cause and course of the cancer.


METHODS
Self-blame, controllability, and adjustment to illness.


RESULTS
39% of the sample reported some self-blame. Analysis of variance indicated that subjects with high levels of self-blame had poorer scores on the PAIS and GAIS.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings indicate the need for further study of the self-blame/adjustment relationship. Researchers must clarify the characteristics that compromise adjustment in patients with breast cancer.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings support the importance of assessing self-blame and providing information to discourage its use by patients with breast cancer.
Houldin
A D
AD
University of Pennsylvania School of Nursing in Philadelphia, USA.
Jacobsen
B
B
Lowery
B J
BJ
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008875:Middle Aged; D009730:Nursing Assessment; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D018709:Statistics, Nonparametric