Gender and Adjustment to Cancer

Abstract

The assumption that women are more vulnerable than men to developing stress in response to negative life events is common in Westem cultures. This research focused on gender differences in psychosocial adjustment to cancer. The sample included 125 men and 206 women. The influence of social support, coping strategies, cognitive response, and emotional response on adjustment were studied. No significant differences by gender were found in the level of distress experienced; however, women made a more positive adjustment, and social support and coping strategies appeared to affect these differences. Clinical implications relative to differences in the impact of social support by gender, as well as implications of differences in coping, are discussed in detail.