TRAIT ANXIETY, SYMPTOM PERCEPTIONS, AND ILLNESS-RELATED RESPONSES AMONG WOMEN WITH BREAST-CANCER IN REMISSION DURING A TAMOXIFEN CLINICAL-TRIAL

postmenopausal women with breast cancer in remission (N = 140) who wer e participating in a randomized clinical trial of tamoxifen chemopreve ntion therapy completed measures of trait anxiety, symptoms, cancer wo rry, and breast self-examinations (BSEs) during the first 6 months of the trial. Trait anxiety was associated with heightened sensitivity to tamoxifen-induced symptoms (but not with tendencies to report increas es in symptoms unrelated to tamoxifen use), greater tendencies to attr ibute symptoms to tamoxifen use, and greater cancer worry. Tamoxifen u se increased BSE rates among high-anxiety participants. For low-anxiet y participants, tamoxifen use increased cancer worry but not BSE rates . Trait anxiety appears to. be associated with vigilant activation of illness-related representations that trigger attentiveness to sensatio ns, worry, and protective coping in response to somatic cues.