The present study assessed how preventive medical information about hereditary breast and ovarian cancer is spread within the family before actual genetic test results. Forty-two women (19 had a breast or ovarian tumor and 23 did not) were asked to fill out a questionnaire about: (1) the spread within the family of the medical information received during the consultation; and (2) the reasons for sharing this information. Results indicate that all of the women socially shared medical information with an immediate family member for preventive purposes, and generally not for seeking emotional or informative social support.
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2.
Bish, A., Sutton, S., Jacobs, C., Levene, S., Ramirez, A., & Hodgson, S. ( 2002). Changes in psychological distress after cancer genetic counseling: A comparison of affected and unaffected women. Bristish Journal of Cancer86(1): 43-50.
3.
Blandy, C., Schwab, S., Stoppa-Lyonnet, D., & Dazord, A. ( 1998). Impact psychosocial d’une première consultation d’oncogénétique dans un contexte familial de cancer du sein et de l’ovaire. Bulletin du Cancer, 85(7), 637-643.
4.
Christophe, V., Delelis, G.Antoine, P., & Nandrino, J.L. (2008). Motives for secondary social sharing of emotions. Psychological Reports, 103, 11-22.
5.
Hallowell, N., Murton, F., Statham, H., Green, J., & Richards, M. ( 1997). Women’s need for information before attending genetic counseling for familial breast or ovarian cancer: A questionnaire interview and observational study. British Medical Journal, 314(7076), 281-283.
6.
Julian-Reynier, C., Eisenger, F., Vennin, P., Chabal, F., Aurran, Y., Noguès, C., Bignon, Y.J., Machelard-Roumagnac, M., Serin, D., Blanc, B., Orsini, P., & Sobol, H. ( 1996). Attitudes towards cancer predictive testing and transmission of information to the family. Journal of Medical Genetics , 33(9), 731-736.
7.
Lerman, C. ( 1997). Psychological aspects of genetic testing: Introduction to the special issues. Health Psychology, 16(1), 3-7.
8.
Lerman, C., Hughes, C., Lemon, S.J., Main, D., Snyder, C., Durham, C., Narod, S., & Lynch, H.T. ( 1998). What you don’t know can hurt you: adverse psychologic effects in members of BRCA1-linked and BRCA2-linked families who decline genetic testing. Journal of Clinical Oncology, 16(5), 1639-1641.
9.
Rimé, B. ( 2007) Interpersonal emotion regulation. In J. J. Gross (Ed.), Handbook of emotion regulation (pp. 466-485). New York: Guilford .
10.
Rimé, B., Finkenauer, C., Luminet, O., Zech, E., & Philippot, P. ( 1998). Social sharing of emotion: New evidence and new questions , European Review of Social Psychology, 9, 145-189.
11.
Surbone, A. ( 2001). Ethical implications of genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility. Critical Reviews in Oncology/Hematology , 40(2), 149-157.
