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Women's Health Australia homepage about the Women's Health Australia project Women's Health Australia staff Women's Health Australia current events Women's Health Australia surveys and data Women's Health Australia substudies information for Women's Health Australia participants University of Newcastle contact Women's Health Australia Women's Health Australia publications and presentations Women's Health Australia homepage about the Women's Health Australia project Women's Health Australia staff Women's Health Australia current events Women's Health Australia surveys and data Women's Health Australia substudies information for Women's Health Australia participants University of Newcastle contact Women's Health Australia Women's Health Australia publications and presentations

 
 


Research project

Ms Lisa Hallsworth
PhD Candidate

 

 

Doctoral Thesis: Psychological adjustment after breast cancer diagnosis and treatment
Supervisors: Associate Professor Tracey Wade (School of Psychology, Flinders University) and Professor Christina Lee (School of Psychology, University of Queensland)
University: School of Psychology, Flinders University

Objectives: The overall aim of the project is to identify factors that impact women’s adjustment to breast cancer (BC) diagnosis or treatment using ALSWH data, in order
to develop an intervention workbook that addresses these issues.

The project plans:
1. To explore group differences in quality of life, as measured by the eight SF-36 domains, between women who developed breast cancer at each Survey and those who did not.
2. To determine if perceived stress mediates the relationship between initial life events and change in quality of life over time, using a subsample of women who did not have breast cancer at Survey 1, but who subsequently developed breast cancer at either Survey 2 or 3. The results from Study 1 influence the direction taken in subsequent studies (which do not use ALSWH data).

Study design/setting: All data analysis has been completed. This study involved examining three waves of ALSWH data from the mid-aged women. Four nonoverlapping groups of women were derived, with a final sample size of 10,543 women.

Results: First, No-BC participants included women who reported never having had breast cancer at all time points (97.2%). Second, BC-T1 consisted of women who reported having breast cancer at T1 (1.5%). BC-T2 consisted of women who developed breast cancer between T1 and T2 (0.5%), and BC-T3 were women who
developed breast cancer between T2 and T3 (0.9%). The four groups of women were statistically compared over time for the eight quality of life outcomes using a multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA). Significant
interactions were found for bodily pain, general health, role physical, physical functioning and social functioning, suggesting that changes in functioning over time differ between groups. Further examination suggested that each BC group experienced significantly worse QOL functioning at the respective time points they had been diagnosed with BC compared to women who had never been diagnosed. The only exception to this was physical functioning, for which no differences were found. In order to prospectively test the hypothesis that perceived stress mediates the relationship between initial life events and change in QOL over time, the two groups of women who did not have breast cancer in Survey 1 but developed breast cancer subsequently by Surveys 2 and 3 (BC-T2 and BC-T3) were combined for prospective analyses (n=140). Longitudinal modelling was then used to test the relationship between life events, stress and change over time in the eight SF-36 QOL domains. Initial life events and perceived stress predicted change in four QOL domains. There was prospective evidence for the predicted mediational relationship for the domains of role emotional and social functioning. Pre-BC life events and, particularly, stress have therefore been identified as important predictive factors for poorer outcomes in certain areas of functioning following diagnosis of BC. Future research can build
upon current findings by implementing and systematically evaluating a stressmanagement intervention for women at risk of poorer outcomes. We submitted the findings of this study for publication and have recently received reviewers’ comments. Further analyses will be conducted before the manuscript is submitted elsewhere. From this research, have developed an intervention workbook to assist women in dealing with these (and other psychological) issues following BC diagnosis and treatment.

To contact Lisa

Lisa Hallsworth
School of Medicine
Flinders University
Adelaide 5001
E mail: lisa.hallsworth@flinders.edu.au

 
Link to Project Aims page Link to Project Progress page Link to Project Methods page Link to Project Progress page 		 


 
 

Last updated: 27 August 2007 by Cath Chojenta © Copyright