MONITORING VERSUS BLUNTING STYLES OF COPING WITH CANCER INFLUENCE THEINFORMATION PATIENTS WANT AND NEED ABOUT THEIR DISEASE - IMPLICATIONSFOR CANCER SCREENING AND MANAGEMENT

Background. Two main psychologic coping styles for dealing with cancer and other health threats have been identified: monitoring (attending to) or blunting (avoiding) potentially threatening information. This a rticle reviews results and implications from this research relevant to cancer screening and management. Methods. The Monitor-Blunter Style S cale has been used extensively to assess and categorize patients with regard to these coping styles to predict their differential responses to various cancer-related screening and management regimens. Results. Patients characterized by a monitoring coping style generally are more concerned and distressed about their cancer risk, experience greater treatment side effects, are more knowledgeable about their medical sit uation, and are less satisfied with and more demanding about the psych osocial aspects of their care, They also prefer a more passive role in clinical decision making, are more adherent to medical recommendation s, and manifest greater psychologic morbidity in response to cancer-re lated threats. Conclusions. Patients fare better (psychologically, beh aviorally, and physiologically) when the information they receive abou t their medical condition is tailored to their own coping styles: gene rally those with a monitoring style tend to do better when given more information, and those with a blunting style do better with less infor mation. However, patients with a monitoring style who pessimistic abou t their future or who face long term, intensely threatening, and uncon trollable medical situations may require not just more information, bu t also, more emotional support to help them deal with their disease.