Psychological Distress, Cognitive Bias and Breast Cancer Surveillance Behavior in Women Tested for BRCA 1/2 Mutation
Abstract
This research project is aimed at examining psychological distress and processing of information associated with risk for breast cancer. Understanding the types and magnitude of women's distress and impaired processing of cancer-related information is critical because cancer-related distress has been associated with poorer compliance with screening behaviors, and impaired processing of cancer information may decrease women's knowledge and understanding of (and hence, compliance with) recommended screening guidelines. These concerns may be particularly salient among women who attend genetic counseling, as they receive complex, and oftentimes distressing information about their risk for the disease. To date, our findings indicate that women with family histories reported higher levels of cancer specific intrusive thoughts and avoidance, higher levels of initial vigilance to cancer stimuli, and interestingly, poorer memory for those stimuli, than did women without family histories of the disease. We found a similar pattern of findings when examining objective risk for breast cancer (Gail Model). Findings are important in that they raise the possibility that there may real-world deficits in the processing of information related to cancer among women who receiving information critical to their health care at an acutely distressing time (i.e., physician's or genetic counselor's office).
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Aug 01, 2000
- Accession Number
- ADA386085
Entities
People
- Dana H Bovbjerg
- Joel Erblich
Organizations
- Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai