Abstracts Psychology

Uncertainty in cancer survivors : physical factors, beliefs about control, and psychological well-being

by Myriam. Skrutkowski

Cancer represents a threat to health which leads long-term cancer survivors to appraise uncertainty about the outcome regularly. This descriptive correlational study examined the level and stress of uncertainty and related variables in a sample of 72 adult cancer survivors of eight to twelve years. The conceptual framework was based on Hilton's uncertainty stress model (1988, 1994) and Lazarus and Folkman's conceptualization of coping (1984). The objectives were to determine if there was a relationship between person factors and uncertainty and between uncertainty and psychological responses. Data included demographic and physical status, locus of control, uncertainty and stress, depression, psychological distress, and perceived control. The overall level of uncertainty was low, but it was positively associated with recurrence, depression, and illness worry. Results support uncertainty as a mediator between person factors and psychological responses. Nursing implications include periodic assessment of uncertainty long after diagnosis.