Need for Cognition and Psychosocial Adjustment in Prostate Cancer Patients and Partners

Abstract

Individual differences in cognitive style, specifically need for cognition (NFC), may play an important role in facilitating communication and psychosocial adjustment to cancer during the presurgical period, a time marked by distress and the need to process diseaserelated information. This study examines the relations between NFC, adjustment, and communication in 106 prostate cancer patients and their partners within 2 weeks prior to radical prostatectomy. High NFC was significantly associated with better psychological adjustment for partners only, whereas for patients, communication with the medical team played a more important role. High NFC patients who were partnered with high NFC partners reported better dyadic communication compared with those who were partnered with low NFC partners. This study indicates that predictors of adjustment may differ for patients and partners, who are likely differentially affected by the disease process.

Key Words:

• Prostate cancer
• partners
• need for cognition
• communication
• adjustment