Self-Efficacy and Adjustment in Cancer Patients: A Preliminary Report

Abstract

The relation between cancer self-efficacy and patient cancer adjustment, depression, psychological distress, and behavioral dysfunction in 42 cancer patients was studied in a preliminary investigation. Participants were male cancer outpatients recruited from a Veterans Administration Medical Center who completed a Cancer Self-Efficacy Scale, the Center for Epidemiological Studies-Depression Scale, the Affect Balance Scale, and the Sickness Impact Profile. Correlational analyses indicated that self-efficacy was related to all adjustment measures. Regression analyses revealed that when age, education, time since initial diagnosis, and current disease status were controlled, the relationships between patient self-efficacy expectations and cancer adjustment, psychological distress, negative affect, positive affect, and behavioral dysfunction remained statistically significant. Taken together, the results of the analyses suggested that patient expectancies about control over cancer-related symptoms were related to several important aspects of patient functioning. The results underscored the need for further investigation of this construct in cancer patients.

Index Terms:

• affect
• behavioral dysfunction
• cancer
• depression
• self-efficacy expectations

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Jean C. Beckham

Dr Beckham is an assistant professor, Veterans Administration and Duke University Medical Centers, Durham, North Carolina, and Dr Burker is an assistant professor in the Departments of Medical Allied Health Professions and Psychiatry at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Ms Lytle and Ms Feldman are psychology technicians with the Veterans Administration Medical Center, Durham, and Ms Costakis is a life skills trainer with Learning Services in Durham.