Is Optimism an asset in cancer disease?

Authors

Liliana Amorim Universidade do Minho, Braga
M. Graça Pereira Universidade do Minho, Braga

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.31877/on.2009.08.02

Keywords:

cancer, optimism, psychological morbidity, social support

Abstract

This study aimed to evaluate the relationship between optimism, psychological morbidity and satisfaction with the social support in a sample of cancer patients. A sample of 46 participants diagnosed with cancer from the Oncology Service at São Marcos Hospital (Braga) participated in the study.
Subjects filled the following questionnaires: a Socio-Demographic Questionnaire developed by Pereira and Amorim for the study’s purpose; Life Orientation Test-R (Scheier, Carver & Bridges, 1994); Stress, Depression and Anxiety Scales – 21 (Pais-Ribeiro, Honrado & Leal, 2004a) and the Social Support Satisfaction Scale (Santos, Pais-Ribeiro & Lopes, 2003). The results showed that optimism and
psychological morbidity are associated, i.e. oncologic patients with higher levels of optimism present less psychological morbidity. In this sample, married patients present lower levels of depression when compared with single, divorced or widows patients. No associations were found between satisfaction with social support and optimism, however, satisfaction with social support and psychological morbidity were significantly correlated.
Implications for intervention are addressed.

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Published

2009-05-06

How to Cite

Amorim L, Pereira MG. Is Optimism an asset in cancer disease?. Onco.News [Internet]. 2009 May 6 [cited 2024 Nov. 23];(08):14-21. Available from: https://onco.news/index.php/journal/article/view/243