Locating Breast Cancer in the Context of Women's Lives

Research has generally suggested that positive life circumstances may help alleviate the distress brought on by breast cancer. Little attention has been paid to the effects of negative life circumstances on women's adjustment to the disease. In this study, 110 women answered in writing an open-ended question about life circumstances (positive, negative, or both) that they perceived to have influenced their experience with breast cancer. Many women described both positive and negative circumstances, but negative circumstances were reported more commonly. The women described 28% of the negative circumstances as more salient or more distressing than breast cancer; these circumstances were coded as “negative distracting” circumstances. Exploratory regression analyses found that positive circumstances were associated with better adjustment and negative circumstances were associated with poorer adjustment. In addition, distracting circumstances were associated with better adjustment. Findings suggest that considering breast cancer in the context of women's lives is important.