Breast cancer and psychological distress: mothers' and daughters' traumatic experiences.
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.
Baider
Lea
L
Sharett Institute of Oncology, Hadassah University Hospital, Jerusalem 91120, Israel. rnlobel@bezeqint.net
Goldzweig
Gil
G
Ever-Hadani
Pnina
P
Peretz
Tamar
T
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*
Psychiatry. 2001 Fall;64(3):256-67
11708051
Psychol Med. 1988 Feb;18(1):203-9
3363039
Child Dev. 2001 May-Jun;72(3):907-20
11405590
Gen Hosp Psychiatry. 1994 Nov;16(6):413-8
7843578
Psychosomatics. 2004 Jan-Feb;45(1):7-16
14709756
Psychol Aging. 1996 Dec;11(4):591-606
9000292
Psychol Health. 2000 Nov;14(6):1141-53
22175267
Am J Community Psychol. 1983 Feb;11(1):1-24
6837532
Semin Oncol Nurs. 2007 Feb;23(1):71-83
17303518
J Nerv Ment Dis. 1997 May;185(5):346-8
9171813
Psychosom Med. 1979 May;41(3):209-18
472086
Support Care Cancer. 2002 Nov;10(8):647-52
12436224
Am J Psychiatry. 2000 Jun;157(6):904-10
10831469
J Psychosom Res. 1989;33(3):373-7
2795510
Psychosom Med. 2001 Jan-Feb;63(1):32-9
11211062
Psychooncology. 2006 Jul;15(7):635-46
16363011
Soc Sci Med. 1992 Jan;34(1):11-5
1738851
Ann Behav Med. 2004 Oct;28(2):142-8
15454362
Am J Orthopsychiatry. 1992 Jul;62(3):342-58
1497100
Eur J Cancer. 2001 Feb;37(3):376-84
11239760
Am J Orthopsychiatry. 1997 Jul;67(3):493-500
9250349
J Consult Clin Psychol. 1982 Jun;50(3):407-14
7096742
Psychosom Med. 2005 Jan-Feb;67(1):64-71
15673626
Fam Process. 2002 Fall;41(3):351-74
12395564
J Clin Oncol. 2006 Jun 1;24(16):2407-8
16651643
Fam Process. 1990 Sep;29(3):325-39
2209834