The Measurement of Stress in Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

The assessment of stress among breast cancer patients is reported in the present article. The aim of the study was to evaluate the complex interplay of stress-related physical, psychological, and behavioural reactions to breast cancer. The further validation of a stress measure, the Stress Symptom Checklist (SSCL), assisted this process. The sample consisted of a cross-cultural group of randomly selected black (n = 100) and white (n = 100) women patients with breast cancer. The statistical methods included descriptive, inferential, and multivariate analyses, which were used to analyse the research data. The results clearly indicated that symptoms of unhealthy stress, as evidenced by the SSCL, emerged as separate from the symptoms of associated variables, such as loneliness, depression, body-image dysphoria, and quality of life, further validating the SSCL as a reliable instrument for measuring stress. Both groups of patients showed clinically significant levels of stress, although there was no significant difference in overall stress between the black and white patient groups. The absence of unhealthy levels of stress is expected to contribute positively to breast cancer patients' quality of life and subjective well-being.