title: Acute stress trajectories 1 year after a breast cancer diagnosis.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The purpose of this study was to evaluate the longitudinal trajectories of acute stress reactions over the course of diagnosis, treatment, and follow-up assessments in a group of non-metastatic breast cancer patients during five different moments of the illness process, and to identify psychological predictors of the trajectories.
  
  
  METHODS
  The sample was formed by 102 non-metastatic breast cancer patients treated with adjuvant chemotherapy. Latent growth mixture models (LGMM) were used to identify latent classes, and we used multinomial logistic regression in a conditional model to examine predictors to differentiate between trajectories.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We identified four different groups according to their trajectories: (1) a resilient group, (44.5 %); (2) a mild acute stress group, (40.6 %); (3) a delayed-recovery group (11.9 %); and (4) a chronic acute stress group (2.9 %). Moreover, anxious preoccupation showed the strongest significant effects in predicting each class, whereas cognitive avoidance and type C personality had moderate effects for participants in the mild acute stress group.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  This study demonstrates that the majority of breast cancer patients in our study were resilient, with only a small percentage showing chronic acute stress. Because coping strategies, specifically anxious preoccupation, and not more stable variables played a main role in the prediction of acute stress trajectories, future preventive interventions should center in promoting more adaptive coping strategies in breast cancer patients.
authors.affiliation: Department of Personality, Assessment and Therapeutic Interventions, Universidad Católica de Valencia San Vicente Mártir, Valencia, Spain. mariasandra.perez@ucv.es.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pérez
authors.affiliation: Department of Statistics, Applied Operations Research and Quality, Universidad Politécnica de Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Conchado
authors.affiliation: Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Yolanda
authors.initials: Y
authors.lastname: Andreu
authors.affiliation: Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: María José
authors.initials: MJ
authors.lastname: Galdón
authors.affiliation: CERCAP, Department of Psychology, Lund University, Lund, Sweden.
authors.forename: Etzel
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Cardeña
authors.affiliation: Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Elena
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Ibáñez
authors.affiliation: Department of Personality, Assessment and Psychological Treatment, Universidad de Valencia, Valencia, Spain.
authors.forename: Estrella
authors.initials: E
authors.lastname: Durá
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008875:Middle Aged; D040701:Stress Disorders, Traumatic, Acute / Q000209:etiology*; D013997:Time Factors
keywords: Acute stress symptoms; Breast cancer; Coping; Spanish women; Trajectories; Type C personality