COPING STRATEGIES AND PSYCHIATRIC MORBIDITY IN WOMEN ATTENDING BREASTASSESSMENT CLINICS

This study examined the role of coping strategies and personality char acteristics in mediating psychiatric morbidity in subjects facing poss ibly serious breast disease. Participating were 121 women aged 20 to 6 5 undergoing breast fine needle biopsy for a suspicious lesion on mamm ography. All subjects received psychosocial assessments including the 12-item General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-12), the Eysenck Personality Inventory (EPI) and the Coping Strategies Inventory. The results show that neuroticism was the only EPI subscore significantly correlated w ith GHQ-12 score. A habitual method of coping with adversity known as 'engagement' has a negative correlation with GHQ-12 score. that is, pa tients who actively confront their illness and the uncertainty that su rrounds it show better psychological health. Stepwise multiple regress ion reveals that neuroticism and an engagement coping strategy are the most significant predictors towards GHQ-12 score prior to the diagnos is of breast cancer.