Scholarlink

Background <p>Cancer is a major stressor leading to a wide range of emotions. Emotions, also negative emotions, are essentially adaptive, in the sense that they help patients cope with cancer. Emotions can also be maladaptive, if they are disproportionately severe or persistent, or interfere with functioning. Our overall goal was to explore whether disturbance of life goals provides a fruitful framework for developing indicators that can distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive emotions.</p> Objective <p>To test the hypotheses that (1) goal disturbance and emotional symptoms are reciprocally and positively associated to each other; and (2) the association between goal disturbance and emotional symptoms is stronger in patients with maladaptive emotions as compared to patients with adaptive emotions.</p> Methods <p>Patients with (non)metastasized disease who recently started systemic treatment (n = 132) filled out Ecological Momentary Assessments 5 times per day for 14 consecutive days in which emotional symptoms and activities related to life goals were documented. The importance of life goals in six domains was assessed with an interview (work/study, disease-related health, lifestyle health, social activities, religious, spiritual and intellectual activities, and leisure). Patients were grouped as having adaptive or maladaptive emotions based on a reference standard (a psychiatric diagnostic assessment, or the subjective need for professional mental healthcare). Linear mixed models were built in R, with either goal disturbance or negative emotional symptoms as dependent variable.</p> Results <p>Goal disturbance for social activities and leisure activities was significantly associated with more emotional symptoms. Goal disturbance for disease-related health activities was significantly associated with less emotional symptoms. No significant association was found for other activities (with one exception). With negative emotions as outcome variable, goal disturbance was more strongly associated with more emotional symptoms in patients with maladaptive emotions than patients with adaptive emotions for social, leisure and lifestyle health activities.</p> Conclusion <p>Further research is warranted to develop an indicator of maladaptive emotions in patients with cancer based on the extent of goal disturbance of social, leisure and lifestyle health activities.</p>

错误：搜索内容不能为空，请输入英文关键词
错误：关键词超出字数限制，请精简
高级检索

Goal disturbance and emotional symptoms in patients with cancer

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

    开放获取

  • 发表日期：

    2026年7月8日

查看全文
  • G. Elise Doppenberg-Smit,
  • Myra E. van Linde,
  • Femke Lamers,
  • Annemarie M. J. Braamse,
  • Rutger Koornstra,
  • Evelien J. M. Kuip,
  • Mariette Labots,
  • Rune A. W. van de Wetering,
  • Henk M. W. Verheul,
  • Joost Dekker,
  • Adriaan W. Hoogendoorn,
  • Aartjan T. F. Beekman

摘要

Background

Cancer is a major stressor leading to a wide range of emotions. Emotions, also negative emotions, are essentially adaptive, in the sense that they help patients cope with cancer. Emotions can also be maladaptive, if they are disproportionately severe or persistent, or interfere with functioning. Our overall goal was to explore whether disturbance of life goals provides a fruitful framework for developing indicators that can distinguish between adaptive and maladaptive emotions.

Objective

To test the hypotheses that (1) goal disturbance and emotional symptoms are reciprocally and positively associated to each other; and (2) the association between goal disturbance and emotional symptoms is stronger in patients with maladaptive emotions as compared to patients with adaptive emotions.

Methods

Patients with (non)metastasized disease who recently started systemic treatment (n = 132) filled out Ecological Momentary Assessments 5 times per day for 14 consecutive days in which emotional symptoms and activities related to life goals were documented. The importance of life goals in six domains was assessed with an interview (work/study, disease-related health, lifestyle health, social activities, religious, spiritual and intellectual activities, and leisure). Patients were grouped as having adaptive or maladaptive emotions based on a reference standard (a psychiatric diagnostic assessment, or the subjective need for professional mental healthcare). Linear mixed models were built in R, with either goal disturbance or negative emotional symptoms as dependent variable.

Results

Goal disturbance for social activities and leisure activities was significantly associated with more emotional symptoms. Goal disturbance for disease-related health activities was significantly associated with less emotional symptoms. No significant association was found for other activities (with one exception). With negative emotions as outcome variable, goal disturbance was more strongly associated with more emotional symptoms in patients with maladaptive emotions than patients with adaptive emotions for social, leisure and lifestyle health activities.

Conclusion

Further research is warranted to develop an indicator of maladaptive emotions in patients with cancer based on the extent of goal disturbance of social, leisure and lifestyle health activities.