Selective attention and fear of cancer recurrence in breast cancer survivors.
BACKGROUND
Anxious people show an attentional bias towards threatening information.


OBJECTIVE
It was investigated whether an attentional bias exists for cancer-related stimuli in breast cancer survivors and if different levels of fear of cancer recurrence would lead to different patterns of selective attention.


METHODS
Breast cancer survivors with high (n = 35) and low (n = 32) fear of cancer recurrence were compared to 40 healthy female hospital employees. Specificity of attentional biases was investigated using a modified Emotional Stroop Task. Self-report measures were used to assess depression and anxiety, feelings of fatigue, and experienced traumas.


RESULTS
Compared to control participants, breast cancer survivors with both high and low levels of fear of cancer recurrence showed increased interference for cancer-related words, but not for other word types.


CONCLUSIONS
The findings suggest a specific attentional bias for cancer-related words in breast cancer survivors that is independent of level of fear of cancer recurrence.
Department of Medical Psychology 840, Radboud University Medical Center, Nijmegen, The Netherlands, Jose.Custers@radboudumc.nl.
J A E
JA
Custers
E S
ES
Becker
M F M
MF
Gielissen
H W M
HW
Van Laarhoven
M
M
Rinck
J B
JB
Prins
D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology; D001288:Attention; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D004644:Emotions; D005239:Fear / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D009364:Neoplasm Recurrence, Local / Q000523:psychology*; D009483:Neuropsychological Tests; D057566:Self Report; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology*; D016387:Women's Health