A comparative analysis of illness perceptions among women with malignant neo-plasms of the female reproductive system and those without a family history of cancer
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.54359/ps.v18i104.2014Abstract
Malignant neoplasms of the female reproductive system represent a significant public health concern and have a profound impact on patients’ physical, psychological, and social well-being. Investigating illness perceptions among women with a cancer diagnosis and women without an oncological history is essential for developing effective prevention, treatment, and support strategies. The aim of this study was to compare perceptions of malignant neoplasms of the female reproductive system among women with a diagnosis and women without personal or family oncological history, as well as to identify key associations between cognitive and emotional factors and the behavior of members of these groups. The study included 203 women, of whom 88 had been diagnosed with a malignant neoplasm of the female reproductive system, while 115 had no personal or family history of cancer. Illness perceptions were assessed using a modified version of the IPQ-R questionnaire. It was shown that women with a cancer diagnosis more often attributed the disease to psycho-emotional and uncontrollable causes. Women without oncological experience tended to overestimate the severity of symptoms, which may be related to sociocultural stereotypes and insufficient health literacy. The findings highlight the importance of an individualized approach to medical and psychological care for women with malignant neoplasms of the reproductive system. For women without oncological experience, increasing medical literacy may reduce irrational fears and promote more adequate illness perceptions. For patients with a diagnosis, access to accurate and reliable information is essential for strengthening illness-related self-efficacy.
Downloads
References
Abramson L.Y., Seligman M.E., & Teasdale J.D. Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and re-formulation. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 1978, No. 87(1), 49–74. DOI: 10.1037/0021-843X.87.1.49
Ajzen I. The theory of planned behavior. Organizational Behavior and Human Decision Processes, 1991, No. 50(2), 179–211. DOI: 10.1016/0749-5978(91)90020-T
Bandura A. Human agency in social cognitive theory. American Psychologist, 1989, No. 44(9), 1175–1184. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.44.9.1175
Burger J.M., & Cooper H.M. The desirability of control. Motivation and Emotion, 1979, No. 3(4), 381–393. DOI: 10.1007/BF00994052
Burlakova N.S., & Oleshkevich V.I. Russian Cultural-Historical Clinical Psychology and Its Meth-odological and Applied Innovations for Analyzing Individual Cases. Clinical and Special Psychology, 2021, No. 10(4), 5–19. (In Russian) DOI: 10.17759/cpse.2021100401
Cole M., Meshcheryakov B., & Ponomariov I. Cross-cultural research in the cultural-historical activi-ty theory tradition. / In J. Valsiner (Ed.), The Oxford Handbook of Culture and Psychology. — Ox-ford University Press, 2011. — pp. 185–210. DOI: 10.1093/oxfordhb/9780195396430.013.0008
Festinger L. A theory of cognitive dissonance. — Stanford University Press, 1957.
Fonnes T., Telle I.O., Forsse D., Falck R., Trovik J., Haldorsen I., & Krakstad C. Cancer awareness in the general population varies with sex, age, and media coverage. Journal of Cancer Education, 2020, No. 35(3), 473–479. DOI: 10.1007/s13187-019-01512-0
Folkman S. Personal control and stress and coping processes: A theoretical analysis. Journal of Per-sonality and Social Psychology, 1984, No. 46(4), 839–852. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.46.4.839
Folkman S., & Moskowitz J.T. Positive affect and the other side of coping. American Psychologist, 2000, No. 55(6), 647–654. DOI: 10.1037/0003-066X.55.6.647
Gross J.J. Handbook of Emotion Regulation (2nd ed.). — The Guilford Press, 2014.
Hafer C.L., & Bègue L. Experimental research on just-world theory: Problems, developments, and future challenges. Psychological Bulletin, 2005, No. 131(1), 128–167. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.131.1.128
Heider F. The psychology of interpersonal relations. — Wiley, 1958.
Goffman E. Stigma: Notes on the Management of Spoiled Identity. — Englewood Cliffs, NJ: Pren-tice-Hall, 1963.
Janoff-Bulman R. Shattered assumptions: Towards a new psychology of trauma. — Free Press, 1992.
Kolomogorova A.B. The Significance of L.S. Vygotsky's Cultural-Historical Theory of Psychological Development for the Advancement of Modern Models of Social Cognition and Psychotherapy. Cul-tural-Historical Psychology, 2016, No. 12(3), 89–98. (In Russian) DOI: 10.17759/chp.2016120309
Koltsova V.A., Oleinik Yu.N., Gilgen A.R., & Gilgen K L. Post-Soviet Perspectives of Russian Psy-chology. Psychological Journal, 1996, No. 17(5), 3–15. (In Russian)
Kostetskii V.V. Cultural View of Russian History. RUDN Journal of Russian History, 2022, No. 21(1), 7–18. (In Russian) DOI: 10.22363/2312-8674-2022-21-1-7-18
Langer E.J. The illusion of control. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 1975, No. 32(2), 311–328. DOI: 10.1037/0022-3514.32.2.311
Lazarus R.S., & Folkman S. Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. — Springer Publishing Company, 1984.
Lerner M.J. The belief in a just world: A fundamental delusion. — Springer, 1980.
Leventhal H., Meyer D., & Nerenz D. The common sense representation of illness danger. / In S. Rachman (Ed.), Medical psychology. — Pergamon Press, 1980. — Vol. 2, pp. 7–30.
Moss-Morris R., Weinman J., Petrie K., Horne R., Cameron L., & Buick D. The Revised Illness Per-ception Questionnaire (IPQ-R). Psychology and Health, 2002, No. 17(1), 1–16. DOI: 10.1080/08870440290001494
Obora M., Onsongo L., & Ogutu J. Determinants of sexual function among survivors of gynaecolog-ical cancers in a tertiary hospital. BMC Women's Health, 2022, No. 22(1), 1–8. DOI: 10.1186/s12905-022-01699-0
Ovchinnikov A.A., Sultanova A.N., Sycheva T.Yu., Akimova S.V., Tagiltseva E.V., & Savinkova N.A. Body Image, Feelings of Loneliness, and Quality of Life in Gynecologic Cancer Patients. Acta Biomedica Scientifica, 2020, No. 5(1), 54–59. (In Russian) DOI: 10.29413/ABS.2020-5.1.8
Rasskazova E.I. Russian Version of the Illness Perception Questionnaire by R. Moss-Morris et al.: Testing on a Sample of Patients with Non-Psychotic Depression. Moscow University Psychology Bulletin, 2016, No. 1, 123–142. (In Russian) DOI: 10.11621/vsp.2016.01.123
Reade C., & Elit L. Current quality of gynecologic cancer care in North America. International Journal of Gynecological Cancer, 2019, No. 29(5), 893–898. DOI: 10.1136/ijgc-2019-000285
Rosenstock I.M. Historical origins of the health belief model. Health Education Monographs, 1974, No. 2(4), 328–335. DOI: 10.1177/109019817400200403
Rubtsov V.V., Margolis A.A., Shvedovskaia A.A., & Ponomareva V.V. Scientometric Analysis of Scientific Publications in the Field of Cultural-Historical Psychology. Cultural-Historical Psychology, 2019, No. 15(4), 4–15. (In Russian) DOI: 10.17759/chp.2019150401
Schapira L., Hofmeister E.N., Kurian A., Zion S., Shen H., Torres T., Berek J., & Palesh O. Differ-ences among Asian/Asian American, and Caucasian breast and gynecologic cancer patient-reported survivorship needs, symptoms, and illness mindsets. Supportive Care in Cancer, 2019, No. 27(4), 1327–1334. DOI: 10.1007/s00520-018-4400-0
Taylor S.E., & Brown J.D. Illusion and well-being: A social psychological perspective on mental health. Psychological Bulletin, 1988, No. 103(2), 193–210. DOI: 10.1037/0033-2909.103.2.193
Tekbaş S., Şahin N., & Sayın N. C. The effect of treatment on quality of life, symptoms, and social life in gynecologic cancer patients. Clinical Nursing Research, 2021, No. 31(1), 3–10. DOI: 10.1177/10547738211052387
Thompson S.C., & Janigian A.S. Life schemes: A framework for understanding the search for mean-ing. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology, 1988, No. 7(2–3), 260–280. DOI: 10.1521/jscp.1988.7.2-3.260
Torres-Lobatón A., Jiménez-Arroyo E.P., Oliva-Posada J.C., Suárez-Juárez C.A., & Morgan-Ortiz F. Gynecological cancer: Evolution of its relative frequency. Ginecología y Obstetricia de México, 2020, No. 88(1), 1–8. DOI: 10.24245/gom.v88i1.3543
Uceda-Escobar A., Guerra-Martín M., & Botello-Hermosa A. The perceptions of women with gyne-cological cancer after radiotherapy treatment: A gender-based qualitative study. Healthcare, 2023, No. 11(11), 1580. DOI: 10.3390/healthcare11111580
Urkmez E., Andac-Jones E., Cibula D., Querleu D., Halaska M., Driák D., Sehouli J., Grabowski J., Inci G., Zalewski K., Minig L., Zorrero C., Şancı M., Alan M., Ledermann J., Fotopoulou C., & Gultekin M. Perceptions, expectations, and experiences of gynecological cancer patients: A pan-European ESGO-ENG, 2019.
Uslu-Şahan F., Terzioğlu F., & Koç G. Hopelessness, death anxiety, and social support of hospital-ized patients with gynecologic cancer and their caregivers. Cancer Nursing, 2019, No. 42(5), 373–380. DOI: 10.1097/NCC.0000000000000622
Valsiner J. Comparative-cultural research in Soviet psychology. / In U. Kim & J.W. Berry (Eds.), In-digenous psychologies: Research and experience in cultural context. — Sage Publications, 1993. — pp. 45–59.
Vygotsky L.S. The history of the development of higher mental functions. — Moscow: Pedagogika, 1960. (In Russian)
Weiner B. An attributional theory of achievement motivation and emotion. Psychological Review, 1985, No. 92(4), 548–573. DOI: 10.1037/0033-295X.92.4.548
Yeh Y.-C., Lu C.-H., Chen I., Kuo S., & Huang Y.-P. Quality of life and its predictors among wom-en with gynaecological cancers. European Journal of Cancer Care, 2021, No. 30(1), e13377. DOI: 10.1111/ecc.13377
Downloads
Published
Issue
Section
License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.
