[Importance of locus of control in the disease adjustment process in women with genital cancer]. / Die Bedeutung von Kontrollüberzeugungen im Krankheitsverarbeitungsprozess bei Frauen mit Genitalkarzinomen.

This study deals with psychological aspects of coping observed in gynecological cancer patients--on the one hand with behavioral, emotional and cognitive reactions to the disease and on the other hand with the efficiency value of these mechanisms in handling the disease. As one important aspect, the attitude towards control of the disease should be correlated with the coping process. Accordingly, the results demonstrate a correlation between high self-responsibility and positive appraisal of the disease: Women who believe they are in control of the disease try harder to fight the disease and interpret their own situation more positively than women with a fatalistic attitude and this enables them to make more sense of the disease; they experience more positive changes in their own lifestyle due to the disease. Furthermore, women who ascribe responsibility for the course of the disease to other interpret their situation in a more positive light. They actively search for social support and obviously experience this trust in the power of other people as a helpful measure. A fatalistic attitude to the disease is combined with rumination and social withdrawal.