title: Cognitive factors in adjustment to cancer: attributions of self-blame and perceptions of control.
abstract: We examined attributions of behavioral and characterological self-blame and perceptions of control over disease progression and recurrence as predictors of symptoms of psychological distress in a sample of adult men and women with cancer. Data were obtained near the time of diagnosis and a 4-month follow-up. Initial levels of behavioral and characterological self-blame were unrelated to concurrent psychological distress. Initial characterological self-blame as well as the interaction of characterological and behavioral self-blame was predictive of psychological distress 4 months later. Perceptions of control over cancer recurrence were unrelated to psychological distress near diagnosis or at follow-up, and control beliefs did not function as a mediator of self-blame. Initial levels of psychological distress predicted characterological but not behavioral self-blame at follow-up, suggesting a reciprocal relationship between characterological self-blame and distress.
authors.affiliation: San Diego State University, California 92120-4913, USA.
authors.forename: V L
authors.initials: VL
authors.lastname: Malcarne
authors.forename: B E
authors.initials: BE
authors.lastname: Compas
authors.forename: J E
authors.initials: JE
authors.lastname: Epping-Jordan
authors.forename: D C
authors.initials: DC
authors.lastname: Howell
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D018450:Disease Progression; D005260:Female; D005500:Follow-Up Studies; D006167:Guilt; D006801:Humans; D007389:Internal-External Control; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000401:mortality / Q000523:psychology*; D009511:New England; D009518:New York; D011582:Psychological Theory; D012008:Recurrence; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D016037:Single-Blind Method; D013315:Stress, Psychological