title: Relationship of threat appraisal with coping appraisal to fear of cancer recurrence in breast cancer survivors.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Prior research suggests that fear of cancer recurrence (FOR) is very common among cancer survivors. This study examined the extent to which the interaction of threat appraisal and coping appraisal accounted for differences in FOR in cancer patients who recently completed treatment. It was hypothesized that greater FOR would be related to a combination of high threat appraisal and low coping appraisal.
  
  
  METHODS
  A sample of 155 early stage breast cancer patients (mean age = 59 years) who completed surgery, chemotherapy, and/or radiotherapy between 6 and 24 months previously (mean = 12 months) completed measures of FOR, threat appraisal (perceived risk and severity of a potential cancer recurrence), and coping appraisal (perceived response efficacy and self-efficacy to perform diet and exercise recommendations to reduce recurrence risk). Basic demographic and clinical information were also collected.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Threat appraisal accounted for 30% of the variance in FOR (p<0.001) while coping appraisal accounted for 0% (p = 0.64). After accounting for these variables and relevant covariates, the interaction of threat appraisal and coping appraisal explained 2% of the remaining variance in FOR (p = 0.04). As hypothesized, survivors who reported high threat appraisal and low coping appraisal had the highest FOR.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Future research should focus on examining these relationships longitudinally and further assess coping appraisal and how it impacts cancer recurrence fears.
authors.affiliation: Department of Health Outcomes and Behavior, H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Department of Psychology, University of South Florida, FL 33620, USA. heather.mcginty@moffitt.org
authors.forename: Heather L
authors.initials: HL
authors.lastname: McGinty
authors.forename: Jamie L
authors.initials: JL
authors.lastname: Goldenberg
authors.forename: Paul B
authors.initials: PB
authors.lastname: Jacobsen
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology* / Q000628:therapy; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005239:Fear; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000523:psychology*; D009367:Neoplasm Staging; D010465:Perception; D012044:Regression Analysis; D012307:Risk Factors; D020377:Self Efficacy; D012959:Socioeconomic Factors; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*