Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale: Factor structure, reliability, and validity assessment in a sample of Greek breast cancer patients

ABSTRACT

The study and measurement of psychosocial adjustment is important for evaluating patients’ well-being, and assessing the illness’s course, treatment’s success, and patients’ recovery. In this study, internal consistency reliability and construct validity of the Greek version of the Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale-Self-Report (PAIS-SR) were examined. Demographic and psychosocial data were collected from a sample of 243 women with breast cancer, recruited from September 2011 to December 2012. With some exceptions in specific items, the original conceptually-derived PAIS-SR subscales emerged in a seven-factor solution. Social Environment, Job and Household Duties, and Psychological Distress accounted for more of the total variance than other subscales. PAIS-SR showed good internal consistency reliability, with Cronbach’s alpha coefficients >0.62. Correlations of PAIS-SR domains with measures of quality of life and posttraumatic stress symptoms supported the convergent validity of the PAIS-SR and its significance for cancer research. The Greek version of the PAIS-SR has acceptable internal consistency reliability and construct validity, as well as satisfactory convergent validity. Results provide some suggestions for the development of programs to evaluate adjustment status and implement psychosocial interventions among breast cancer survivors.

KEYWORDS:

• Breast cancer
• PAIS-SR
• psychosocial
• Psychosocial Adjustment to Illness Scale
• SF-36