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Understanding the distressed prostate cancer patient: Role of personality
Author(s) -
Perry Laura M.,
Hoerger Michael,
Silberstein Jonathan,
Sartor Oliver,
Duberstein Paul
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
psycho‐oncology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.41
H-Index - 137
eISSN - 1099-1611
pISSN - 1057-9249
DOI - 10.1002/pon.4579
Subject(s) - neuroticism , distress , extraversion and introversion , depression (economics) , anxiety , clinical psychology , suicidal ideation , personality , prostate cancer , context (archaeology) , medicine , big five personality traits , psychiatry , psychology , cancer , poison control , suicide prevention , macroeconomics , environmental health , biology , economics , social psychology , paleontology
Objective To evaluate the relationship between personality and emotional distress in prostate cancer. Neuroticism and introversion were hypothesized to be associated with clinically significant symptoms of emotional distress, including depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Methods Men with a history of prostate cancer ( n = 212) completed an NIH‐funded cross‐sectional study using well‐validated measures of personality, depression, anxiety, and suicidal ideation. Covariates were age, education, time since diagnosis, comorbidity, and presence of metastases. Results Emotional distress was reported by 37% of participants, including depression (23%), anxiety (15%), and suicidal ideation (10%). As hypothesized, men who were more neurotic were more likely to report emotional distress (44.5% vs 26.9%; OR = 2.78, P = .004), depression (31.9% vs 11.8%; OR = 4.23, P = .001), and suicidal ideation (29.4% vs 9.7%; OR = 4.15, P = .001). Introverts were more likely to report emotional distress (45.2% vs 28.7%; OR = 2.32, P = .012) and depression (30.8% vs 15.7%; OR = 2.57, P = .014). Men with metastases were more likely to report emotional distress (51.7% vs 31.2%; OR = 4.56, P < .001). Conclusions Neuroticism and introversion were associated with clinically significant emotional distress in men with prostate cancer. Findings suggest that, in the context of treatment for prostate cancer, patient distress reflects disease characteristics (eg, metastases presence) as well as stable personality traits. Implications for clinical care are discussed.