title: Resilience as a predictor for emotional response to the diagnosis and surgery in breast cancer patients.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purposes of the present study were to investigate the role of resilience in the prediction of emotional response in breast cancer patients and to examine whether this association is specific for women undergoing this emotionally taxing condition or whether resilience is more generally associated with higher levels of emotional well-being.
  
  
  METHODS
  Two hundred fifty-three breast cancer patients and 211 healthy female controls completed four psychological questionnaires. Measures comprised the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, and two happiness items. Cancer patients were assessed after diagnosis and surgery.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Cancer patients reported higher levels of anxiety, depression, and negative affect and lower levels of positive affect and current happiness compared with control women. There was no difference between the two groups in level of resilience. Higher levels of resilience were related to better emotional adjustment both in women with breast cancer and in control women, but this association was stronger within the sample of cancer patients. In fact, patients scoring high on resilience seemed to experience similar levels of anxiety, depression, and current happiness as healthy women.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Our results confirm that resilience may at least partially protect against emotional distress in cancer patients. Our findings suggest that resilience may be a relatively stable trait that is not affected by adversity.
authors.affiliation: ZOL Ziekenhuizen Oost-Limburg, Genk, Belgium.
authors.forename: Sabine E
authors.initials: SE
authors.lastname: Markovitz
authors.affiliation: ZOL Ziekenhuizen Oost-Limburg, Genk, Belgium.|Universiteit Hasselt, Diepenbeek, Belgium.
authors.forename: Ward
authors.initials: W
authors.lastname: Schrooten
authors.affiliation: Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.|University of Amsterdam, Amsterdam, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Arnoud
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Arntz
authors.affiliation: Maastricht University, Maastricht, The Netherlands.
authors.forename: Madelon L
authors.initials: ML
authors.lastname: Peters
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology* / Q000601:surgery; D016022:Case-Control Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D055500:Resilience, Psychological; D013315:Stress, Psychological / Q000517:prevention & control* / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: breast cancer; cancer; emotional adjustment; oncology; resilience