Hope, emotion regulation, and psychosocial well-being in patients newly diagnosed with cancer

Support Care Cancer. 2016 May;24(5):1955-1962. doi: 10.1007/s00520-015-2989-x. Epub 2015 Oct 17.

Abstract

Purpose: Patients newly diagnosed with cancer are often confronted with feelings of uncertainty and life threat. A significant proportion may report impairments in psychosocial well-being. Previous studies examining protective psychological factors such as hope and emotion regulation (ER) have yet to investigate these processes concurrently within a common self-regulation framework and/or focus on newly diagnosed patients. The present study aimed to examine how hope and ER may relate to psychosocial outcomes of patients newly diagnosed with cancer.

Methods: The present study used a cross-sectional design with self-report questionnaires. Participants were newly diagnosed patients (N = 101) recruited from three cancer therapy clinics in a hospital. Patients completed measures of hope, ER (cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression), and psychosocial well-being (life satisfaction and negative affectivity).

Results: Findings showed that (1) hope and reappraisal, but not suppression, were associated with well-being and (2) the interaction between hope and reappraisal was associated with well-being; reappraisal was not associated with well-being in high hope patients, while high reappraisal was associated with better well-being in low hope patients.

Conclusion: Individual differences in hope and reappraisal appeared to be associated with psychosocial outcomes in newly diagnosed cancer patients. Hopeful thinking appeared to benefit patients' psychosocial well-being. In addition, an interaction effect between hope and reappraisal suggested that reappraisal as an ER strategy may be particularly adaptive for patients with low hope.

Keywords: Asia; Cancer; Emotion; Hope; Psychosocial.

MeSH terms

  • Adaptation, Psychological*
  • Adult
  • Cross-Sectional Studies
  • Emotions*
  • Female
  • Hope*
  • Humans
  • Male
  • Middle Aged
  • Neoplasms* / diagnosis
  • Neoplasms* / epidemiology
  • Neoplasms* / psychology
  • Self Report
  • Self-Control / psychology*
  • Singapore / epidemiology
  • Surveys and Questionnaires