Long-term treatment for emotional distress in women with breast cancer.

PURPOSE: Breast cancer patients have many needs, including strategies to cope with the associated distress, during and after cancer treatment. Establishing and implementing adequate social and emotional support for these women, to reduce the detrimental effects of stress resulting from their treatment and disease, is the need of the hour. This study aims to assess how women, diagnosed and treated for breast cancer, combat emotional stress using mechanisms of coping and control and emotional defense, as well as to identify potential groups among them, with different long-term patterns and needs. METHODS: 98 patients belonging to a local breast cancer support association (ALMOM), were enrolled in this study. A questionnaire specifically designed for them was administered, and its internal consistency and reliability assessed. A hierarchical clustering was employed to classify the women. The questionnaire focused on four sections, including personal feelings, coping strategies, environmental influences and maladaptive coping. RESULTS: An adequate internal reliability was obtained with Cronbach's α near or greater than 0.60. Personal feelings were significant and clearly correlated with coping strategies and maladaptive coping. Three groups of women with different patterns of emotional characteristics and needs were identified: positivist, unsafe, and hopeless women, with different long-term emotional needs to be satisfied. CONCLUSIONS: Psychological therapeutic interventions should be maintained in many breast cancer patients over time, even after treatment completion, in order to consolidate adaptive and sustainable responses.