Personality Factors Associated With Psychological Distress in Testicular Cancer Survivors

Abstract

The aim of this study was to investigate symptoms of anxiety and depression in testicular cancer survivors (TCSs) and to identify personality traits associated with psychological distress in these patients by means of the MMPI (Hathaway & McKinley, 1943). A total of 50 TCSs and 50 age-adjusted healthy men participated in the study, and we used the following self-report instruments: Montgomery–Asberg Depression Rating Scale (Montgomery & Asberg, 1979), Hamilton Anxiety Rating Scale (Hamilton, 1959, 1969), Spielberger's State–Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, 1970, 2005), and the MMPI. TCSs displayed higher rates on all psychopathology scales studied compared to controls, but the majority of the patients' scores were within the “normal range,” indicating rather mild psychological distress. TCSs' MMPI profiles showed higher rates on Scales 1, 3, 6, and 9 compared to controls; and within the TCSs sample, symptoms of depression were most closely associated with Scales 3 and 5. Similarly, anxiety symptoms were mainly associated with Scale 3. These findings indicate that TCSs present mild symptoms of psychological distress, mainly anxiety and depressive symptoms, suggesting that careful assessment and consultation in TC patients is essential to help them deal with distress after treatment and to minimize possible risk factors.

Acknowledgment

We thank Dr. Katerina Antoniou, Lecturer of Pharmacology, for her important comments and her helpful criticism.

Notes

^a N = 50.

^b N = 50.

^c Glass's d as the effect size.

^d The control group SD was used in calculating effect size.

^e Two-tailed t tests.

^f Ordinal polychotomus method was used in calculating effect size.

^g Chi-square tests.

^h Social class classification according to Hollingshead–Reslich 2-point scale; “I” indicates higher socioeconomic status (Hollingshead & Reslich, 1958).

ⁱ Probit method was used in calculating effect size.

^a Two-stage least-squares (hierarchical) regression analyses.

^b Pearson's product–moment bivariate correlation coefficients.

^c Instrumental variables.

^a Glass's d as the effect size; the control groupSD is used in calculating this effect.

^b Statistical significance based on two-tailed t tests (when variances were not equal by Levene's test for the equality of variances, p was obtained from the t-test output that corrects for unequal variances).