Locus of Control, Marital Status and Predictors of Early Relapse in Primary Breast Cancer Patients

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the relationship between two psychosocial factors and early relapse in breast cancer patients. Specifically, we investigated how the personality trait locus of control interacts with marital status to predict medical pathology and distress in 49 primary breast cancer patients. Patient data were obtained from clinical files, personal interviews, and a reduced version of Hopkins Symptom Checklist. Based on Rotter's generalized I-E locus of control scale, patients were categorized into three personality types: internals, externals, and intermediates. Analysis of the data showed that being married correlated with a reduced history of pathology and lower levels of distress, but only in those patients with an intermediate locus of control. Ratings of interviews showed that intermediates seemed to gain more satisfaction from family support, and that unmarried intermediates suffered more from loss of control after the diagnosis than married intermediates. An explanatory model suggesting that intermediates benefit from being married because they are more sensitive to social support is proposed and evaluated with respect to predicting health, distress and biological risk for breast cancer relapse.