Quality of life and adjustment in men with prostate cancer: Interplay of stress, threat and resilience

• Published in: PloS one Vol. 15; no. 9; p. e0239469
• Main Authors: Groarke, AnnMarie, Curtis, Ruth, Skelton, Jean, Groarke, Jenny M
• Format: Journal Article
• Language: English
• Published: San Francisco Public Library of Science 17.09.2020; Public Library of Science (PLoS)
• Subjects: Adjustment; Biology and Life Sciences; Cancer therapies; Care and treatment; Diagnosis; Diagnostic systems; Emotions; Erectile dysfunction; Health aspects; Likert scale; Masculinity; Medical diagnosis; Medicine and Health Sciences; Mood; Polls & surveys; Prostate cancer; Psychological aspects; Psychological factors; Psychology; Quality of life; Regression analysis; Resilience; Resilience (Personality trait); Social Sciences; Stress; Stress (Psychology); Survival; Threats; Ireland
• ISSN: 1932-6203; 1932-6203
• DOI: 10.1371/journal.pone.0239469

Diagnosis and treatment of prostate cancer can generate many challenges which impact on adjustment, so understanding the psychosocial factors which contribute to individual vulnerability to poor adaptation warrants further investigation. This study investigates stress and masculine identity threat as predictors of quality of life and emotional adjustment in men with localized prostate cancer and the role of resilience as a potential protective psychological factor. Hierarchical regression analysis demonstrated that perceived stress accounted for 26%-44% of variance on quality of life and adjustment indices, with high stress associated with low mood and poor quality of life. Low masculine threat and high resilience predicted better quality of life and emotional adjustment accounting for between 1-7% of the variance. Resilience moderated the relationship between stress and distress and mediated the association between masculine threat and distress and negative affect. Perceived stress was the most powerful predictor in the model and findings suggest it contributes significantly to functional and affective status in survivors of prostate cancer. Psychological resilience is a protective factor which buffers the negative effect of stress and masculine identity threat on emotional adjustment. Findings indicate that men should be screened as part of the diagnostic and treatment process for high perceived stress and low resilience to identify those at risk for poor adjustment during survivorship.