title: Can risk and illness perceptions predict breast cancer worry in healthy women?
abstract: Predictors of breast cancer worry in healthy women remain unclear. Healthy women less than 50 years (N = 857) completed measures of family history, anxiety, absolute and comparative risk perceptions, illness perceptions, and breast cancer worry. Regression analyses revealed that having a family history of breast cancer, greater anxiety, higher absolute risk perceptions and negative illness perceptions predicted 45 per cent of the variance in breast cancer worry. Risk perceptions also partially mediated the relationship between illness perceptions and worry. This study provides novel evidence that both illness and risk perceptions are predictors of breast cancer worry in younger women from the community.
authors.affiliation: Royal Holloway, University of London, UK National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland andrea.gibbons@royalholloway.ac.uk.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Gibbons
authors.affiliation: National University of Ireland, Galway, Ireland.
authors.forename: AnnMarie
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Groarke
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001294:Attitude to Health; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology*; D003469:Culture; D005260:Female; D020022:Genetic Predisposition to Disease / Q000235:genetics / Q000523:psychology; D006801:Humans; D007494:Ireland; D008875:Middle Aged; D010465:Perception; D012044:Regression Analysis; D018570:Risk Assessment; D016387:Women's Health; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: breast cancer worry; illness perceptions; risk perceptions; women’s health; worry