Decision-Making among Women at High Risk for Breast Cancer: Complementary Roles of Emotion and Cognition
Year: 2017
Type: article
Study design: Observational Study
Abstract: Women with a high risk of breast cancer have options for reducing risk, including surgery (mastectomy and/or oophorectomy), chemoprevention, and lifestyle changes.However, the ways in which women decide whether or not to pursue these options is not well understood.Both cognitive factors (e.g., perceived risk, perceived seriousness, attitudes) and emotional factors (e.g., cancer-related distress, emotion regulation) play a role in the decision-making process, but have not been tested as a single, integrated model.The present study investigates an innovative dual-pathway model of decisionmaking in a sample of women at high risk for breast cancer (N = 103).A single group, cross-sectional design was used.Participants self-reported cognitions about breast cancer risk (perceived susceptibility, perceived seriousness), attitudes about risk-reducing behaviors, cancer-related distress, emotion regulation, and intentions for risk-reducing behaviors.Mediation analyses examined hypothesized relationships between cognitive variables in predicting behavioral intentions, while moderation analyses examined hypothesized relationships between emotional variables in predicting behavioral intentions.Significant moderating effects of reappraisal were found for emotion-based models predicting mastectomy intentions (p = 0.04; 95% C.I. = [0.01,0.03]) and chemoprevention intentions (p = 0.02; 95% C.I. = [0.01,0.03]).No significant effects were observed for cognitive mediation models (all ps > 0.05; 95% C.I. lower bound =iii 0.03 --0.01; 95% C.I. upper bound = 0.01 -0.02).Results indicate that: 1) emotion regulation strategy use plays a significant role in risk-management decision-making; and 2) risk-management decisions are made independent of perceived severity.Results contribute to knowledge of decisional processes among women at high risk for breast cancer and highlight the need for modifications to existing health decision-making models.Specific targets for decision-making support interventions are identified.iv "The oldest and strongest emotion of mankind is fear, and the oldest and strongest kind of fear is fear of the unknown."-H.P. Lovecraft, Supernatural Horror in Literature v
Author: Claire C. Conley
Institution: The Ohio State University
Language: English
Subfield: Genetics
Domain: Life Sciences
Open Access status: green
OpenAlex ID: W2767149236