title: Locus of control, quality of life, anxiety, and depression among Malaysian breast cancer patients: The mediating role of uncertainty.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  The main objective of this study was to investigate the mediating role of uncertainty in the relationship between locus of control with quality of life, anxiety, and depression.
  
  
  METHODS
  A descriptive and correlational survey was conducted in a private hospital in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. A convenience sample of 118 Malaysian breast cancer patients voluntarily participated in the study and responded to a set of questionnaires including: socio-demographic questionnaire, the short form of Locus of Control Scale, the Functional Assessment of Cancer Therapy-Breast (FACT-B), the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the Short-Form Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale (SF-MUIS).
  
  
  RESULTS
  The results revealed that breast cancer patients with higher internal locus of control and lower external locus of control experience a higher quality of life, lower anxiety, and lower depression. Also, uncertainty mediated the relationship between locus of control with quality of life and depression (quasi-significant).
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The findings indicated the need for early, targeted psychological interventions seeking to gradually shift cancer patients' locus of control from external to internal in order to improve their quality of life and reduce their depression and anxiety. Moreover, health care providers by providing relevant information to cancer patients, especially for externally oriented patients, can reduce their uncertainty which in turn would improve their quality of life.
authors.affiliation: Taylor's Business School, Taylor's University Lakeside Campus, No. 1 Jalan Taylors, 47500 Subang Jaya, Selangor, Malaysia. Electronic address: saeed.sharif@taylors.edu.my.
authors.forename: Saeed
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Pahlevan Sharif
mesh_terms: D000328:Adult; D000368:Aged; D000369:Aged, 80 and over; D001007:Anxiety / Q000523:psychology*; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D003863:Depression / Q000209:etiology / Q000523:psychology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008296:Malaysia; D008875:Middle Aged; D011788:Quality of Life / Q000523:psychology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D035501:Uncertainty
keywords: Anxiety; Breast cancer; Depression; Locus of control; Quality of life; Uncertainty