Subjective Age of Women with Breast Cancer in the System of Psychological Factors

Abstract

The article analyzes the subjective age and its relationship with other psychological factors in women with breast cancer. The study involved 125 women aged 31 to 80 years (M=55.71; SD=11.86) diagnosed with breast cancer (stage I of the disease — 48 women; stage II — 41 women; stage III — 10 women), under the supervision of an oncologist up to 6 months from the moment of diagnosis. In addition to socio-demographic data, subjective age was studied (B. Barak questionnaire adapted by E.A. Sergienko, 2011), subjective health assessments (SF-36 questionnaire, J. Ware et. al. in the adaptation of K.G. Gurevich, E.G. Fabricant, 2008); methods of coping behavior (R. Lazarus questionnaire, S. Folkman in the adaptation of T.L. Kryukova, 2004), basic beliefs (R. Janoff-Bulman scale of the same name, adaptation by M.A. Padun, A.V. Kotelnikova, 2012) and the severity of personal helplessness (D.A. Tsiring questionnaire of personal helplessness, A.V. Stepanenko, 2018). Three subgroups were identified according to estimates of subjective age: those who feel younger than their passport age, adequately and older. The results of the study showed that the subjective age among women with breast cancer makes it possible to differentiate subjective assessments of their own health, ability to cope with behavior, changes in basic beliefs and signs of personal helplessness formed in a severe traumatic situation of the disease. Among respondents of different ages (31–80 years old), there are significant differences in the patterns of the system of psychological resources. This means that in addition to the general psychological factors of breast cancer (depression, anxiety, distress), there are individual variants of mental organization associated with the assessment of age identity, which modifies the actualization and evaluation of their own psychological resources.