PREDICTORS OF PATIENTS MENTAL ADJUSTMENT TO CANCER - PATIENT CHARACTERISTICS AND SOCIAL SUPPORT

Because being diagnosed with cancer is considered to be extremely stre ssful, cancer patients' mental adjustment has been widely studied. Pre vious studies have revealed that cancer patients' mental adjustment is correlated with the quality of life and the degree of psychological d istress and have suggested that one of the most adaptive adjustments i s 'fighting spirit' whereas one of the most maladaptive is 'helplessne ss/hopelessness'. However, little is known about the association betwe en patients' menial adjustment to cancer and their spouses characteris tics or social support network. This paper describes a study of cancer patients' characteristics and social support factors as predictors of the patients' responses to having cancer. A total of 455 ambulatory c ancer patients completed the Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) scale a nd participated in a structured interview about their characteristics and social support, The results of multiple regression analysis sugges ted that size of household, performance status, support from physician s and satisfaction with support were predictive of patients' fighting spirit, whereas age, education, size of household, performance status and satisfaction with support were predictive of helplessness/hopeless ness.