Non-adaptive reaction to disease - coping, demographic variables and trauma symptoms in cancer patients.

OBJECTIVES: The aim of the presented study was to determine the relations of styles and strategies of coping with stress and demographic variables with the intensity of PTSD symptoms in persons diagnosed with cancer. The study tried to determine which style of coping with stress is the best predictor of posttraumatic symptoms in the group.

METHODS: This study was conducted on the group of 150 patients (55 females and 95 males) that were treated for cancer. Polish version of the Mini-Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale - mini-MAC - was used to study styles of coping with stress. PTSD Inventory (PTSD-C) allowing for the quantitative estimation of the symptoms was used measure the intensity of PTSD symptoms. Additionally, a demographic questionnaire containing the questions about the age, sex, education, and the time since the diagnosis was employed for the benefits of this study.

RESULTS: The results of the study indicate non-adaptive function of destructive style. In the situation of being subjected to a traumatic event this style is propitious to the development of the symptoms of posttraumatic stress disorder. The individual strategies of coping, sex and age are correlated with higher intensity of posttraumatic symptoms in sick persons.

CONCLUSIONS: Destructive style, of coping with stress is less beneficial for the adaptation to a cancerous disease. It may significantly influence the development of pathological symptoms characteristic to PTSD.