Goals of work: This study examines the relationships between personality, on the one hand, and perceived availability of social support (PASS) and satisfaction with received social support (SRSS), on the other hand, in women with early stage breast cancer (BC). In addition, this study examined whether a stressful event (i.e., diagnosis) is associated with quality of life (QOL), when controlling for PASS and SRSS.
Patients and method: Women were assessed on PASS and SRSS (World Health Organization QOL assessment instrument-100) before diagnosis (time 1) and 1 (time 2), 3 (time 3), 6 (time 4), 12 (time 5), and 24 months (time 6) after surgical treatment. Personality (neuroticism extraversion openness five-factor inventory and state trait anxiety inventory-trait scale) and fatigue (fatigue assessment scale) were assessed at time 1.
Main results: Agreeableness and fatigue predicted PASS and SRSS at time 5 and time 6. Trait anxiety had a negative effect on SRSS (ss = -0.22, p < .05). In addition, having a job was negatively associated with SRSS (time 6, ss = -0.28, p < .05). Across time, women reported a decrease in PASS and SRSS. Path models, used to test whether PASS and/or SRSS functioned as mediators of the link between diagnosis and QOL, reached adequate fit.
Conclusions: Besides factors, like fatigue and having a job, personality factors substantially influence the way women with early stage BC perceive social support. Knowledge about these underlying mechanisms of social support is useful for the development of tailor-made interventions. Professionals should be aware of the importance of social support. They should check whether patients have sufficient significant others in their social environment and be sensitive to potential discrepancies patients might experience between availability and adequacy of social support.