Hopelessness and Related Variables among Cancer Patients in the Southern Europe...

• Author(s): Grassi, L ; Travado, L ; Gil, F ; Sabato, S ; Rossi, E ; Tomamichel, M ; Marmai, L ; Biancosino, B ; Nanni, MG ; SEPOS
• Date: 2010
• Persistent ID: http://hdl.handle.net/10400.17/1237
• Origin: Repositório do Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central, EPE
• Subject(s): Adaptação Psicológica; Transtornos de Ansiedade; Comparação Transcultural; Depressão; Europa; Actividades de Lazer; Motivação; Neoplasias; Avaliação da Dor; Inventário de Personalidade; Estatísticas e Dados Numéricos; Psicometria; Qualidade de Vida; Papel do Doente; Apoio Social
• Document Type: Article
• Language: English

Description

BACKGROUND: Although hopelessness has been studied in cancer, no data are available in non-English-speaking countries. OBJECTIVE: The authors sought to amass data from Southern European countries (Italy, Portugal, Spain, and Switzerland) in order to fill this void. METHOD: A group of 312 cancer patients completed the Mini-MAC Hopelessness subscale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), the Cancer Worry Inventory (CWI), and a six-item Visual Analog scale (VAS) to measure intensity of physical symptoms, general well-being, difficulty in coping with cancer, intensity of social support from close relationships, leisure activity, and support from religious beliefs. RESULTS: Regression analysis indicated that HADS-Depression, VAS Maladaptive Coping and Well-Being, and the CWI explained 42% of the variance. CONCLUSION: Hopelessness in cancer patients seems not exclusively to correspond to depression, but is related to various other psychosocial factors, such as maladaptive coping, as well.