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Loneliness, emotional repression, marital quality, and major life events in women who develop breast cancer

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Abstract

Women awaiting mammograms at a breast clinic were given questionnaires to investigate the role of psychosocial variables in the development of breast cancer while controlling for established breast cancer risk factors. Questionnaires to determine loneliness, emotional repression, marital quality, and major life changes were completed by 826 female volunteers who were later classified into groups according to their diagnoses. The total emotional repression score showed a hierarchy of most repression to least repression for the most-diseased to the most-healthy subjects. A breakdown of the emotional repression scale revealed that each group was significantly different from the other in suppression of anger and unhappiness. Women in the new cancer group showed significantly more loneliness than the women in the fibrocystic and normal groups. The newly diagnosed cancer group also had a higher proportion of women who experienced the death of a spouse or close family member within the past two years compared to the other groups.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Health, Kinesiology, and Leisure Studies at Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN

    Gerald C. Hyner PhD (Associate Professors) & Roseann M. Lyle PhD (Associate Professors)

  2. The Indianapolis Breast Center, 1950 W. 86th Street, 46260, Indianapolis, IN

    A. Patricia Harper MD (Medical Director)

Authors
  1. Cyndy M. Fox MS
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  2. A. Patricia Harper MD
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  3. Gerald C. Hyner PhD
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  4. Roseann M. Lyle PhD
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Additional information

Cyndy M. Fox was a Purdue University graduate student while conducting this research.

The assistance and support of the Indianapolis Breast Center staff and patients during data collection is gratefully acknowledged.

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Fox, C.M., Harper, A.P., Hyner, G.C. et al. Loneliness, emotional repression, marital quality, and major life events in women who develop breast cancer. J Community Health 19, 467–482 (1994). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF02260327

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