Personality Correlates of Patients' Subjective Well-Being After Surgery for Colorectal Cancer

Abstract

The present study examined the relationship between a general personality framework (the five-factor model) and subjective well-being in patients with colorectal cancer. Participants were 56 post-surgical patients with colorectal cancer who completed a mailed, self-administered questionnaire that assessed demographic characteristics, personality, and subjective well-being (life satisfaction, positive affect, negative affect, and affect balance). Pearson correlations indicated that neuroticism had the highest correlation with life satisfaction (r= -.61), affect balance (r= -.61), and negative affect (r= .48), whereas extroversion had the highest correlation with positive affect (r= .57). Moreover, hierarchical multiple regression analyses indicated that personality explained an additional 20% to 29% of the variance in subjective well-being after important demographic and medical variables were controlled for. The authors concluded that personality, particularly neuroticism, is strongly related to subjective well-being in patients with colorectal cancer and that clinicians should be aware of its implications for patients' functioning.