Abstract
This study analyzes goals of 159 cancer patients before the start of therapy and goals of 160 healthy controls. Follow-up data were collected at about 9 and 18 months after the first assessment. Patients reported fewer achievement-related goals and leisure goals than controls and had a shorter time perspective for their goals; these differences persisted over the study interval. Whereas the number of health-related goals was similar in both groups at the Time 1, patients showed an increase in this goal category thereafter. In addition, patients reported more health-related barriers to goal pursuit than their healthy peers at Time 1, but this difference declined over time. We conclude that cancer influences loss-based goal selection in the first days after being diagnosed and that the changed goal perspective is widely maintained for one and a half years.
This study was supported by Research Grant 70-2445-Hö3 from the German Cancer Aid (Deutsche Krebshilfe).
Notes
Note. Significant chi-square scores indicate significant variability in initial status and growth rate, respectively.
∗p < .05
∗∗∗p < .001.
Note. β = regression coefficient. Cancer status: 1 = cancer, 0 = healthy; education: 1 = highest school track, 0 = other; gender: 1 = male, 0 = female; partner status: 1 = married/intimate relationship, 0 = other.
∗p < .05
∗∗p < .01
∗∗∗p < .001.