Biased cognitive processing of cancer-related information among women with family histories of breast cancer: evidence from a cancer stroop task.
Stimuli associated with sources of stress have been shown to interfere with cognition. The authors hypothesized that women with the stress of having a family history of breast cancer (FH+) would exhibit greater interference on a task with cancer-related stimuli than women without cancer in the family (FH-). The authors developed a modified Stroop color-naming task to test this hypothesis in a sample of FH+ (n = 72) and FH- (n = 96) women. Consistent with the hypotheses, FH+ women had longer color-naming times and more errors (ps < .01) on a cancer word list relative to noncancer lists. This biased processing was not mediated by the significantly higher perceived risk, general distress, or cancer-specific distress in FH+ women. Maladaptive alterations in processing cancer stimuli may have important clinical implications, as these women must process complex cancer-related information critical to their health (e.g., options for chemoprevention, screening).
Erblich
Joel
J
Biobehavioral Medicine Program, Derald H. Ruttenberg Cancer Center, Mount Sinai School of Medicine, New York, New York 10029-6574, USA. joel.erblich@mssm.edu
Montgomery
Guy H
GH
Valdimarsdottir
Heiddis B
HB
Cloitre
Marylene
M
Bovbjerg
Dana H
DH
D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D003071:Cognition; D003118:Color Perception; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease; D006801:Humans; D007255:Information Services; D008875:Middle Aged; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D010353:Patient Education as Topic; D010375:Pedigree; D012660:Semantics; D013315:Stress, Psychological