title: Breast cancer and psychological distress: mothers' and daughters' traumatic experiences.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The objective of this exploratory retrospective study was to assess the effects of breast cancer diagnosis upon the psychological distress of adult breast cancer patients and their mothers, particularly mothers who experienced past trauma.
  
  
  METHODS
  Four groups of mother-daughter dyads were evaluated using self-reporting measures of psychological distress [Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI)], familial support (PFS), and adjustment to cancer (MAC, IES): breast cancer patients whose mothers were Holocaust survivors (group 1), breast cancer patients with non-traumatized mothers (group 2), healthy daughters of Holocaust survivor mothers (group 3), and a control group of healthy daughters with non-traumatized mothers (group 4).
  
  
  RESULTS
  Distress levels of both mothers and daughters in group 1 were significantly higher than distress levels of mothers and daughters in the other three groups. Daughters' distress levels in all four groups were found to be significantly related to mothers' distress levels, with the highest correlation found in both groups of cancer patients. The factors of having a clinically distressed mother and being a second-generation daughter contributed the most to predicting the clinical distress of the daughter.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The outcomes imply that the mother's traumatic past intensifies the distressing effect of cancer diagnosis upon both the patient and her mother. The findings concerning the impact of cancer diagnosis upon the patients' non-traumatized mothers were more ambiguous. The results support the idea that in the case of breast cancer patients, a complete psychological evaluation must include not only spouses and children but also the familial background of the patient and the history of the patients' mothers.
authors: Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. rnlobel@bezeqint.net
authors: Lea
authors: L
authors: Baider
authors: Gil
authors: G
authors: Goldzweig
authors: Pnina
authors: P
authors: Ever-Hadani
authors: Tamar
authors: T
authors: Peretz
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D032721:Adult Children / Q000523:psychology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D017767:Holocaust / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D010555:Personality Inventory; D011247:Pregnancy; D012189:Retrospective Studies; D012944:Social Support; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000453:epidemiology; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*
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