Attainment and importance of life values among patients with primary breast cancer

The main aims of this study were to investigate the extent to which women with recently diagnosed primary breast cancer (N = 29) and matched control subjects without cancer (N = 29) differ in perceived attainment and importance of life values and to study prospectively life value ratings during 1 year in a large group of recent attendees at mammography screening (N = 706). Life values were assessed by a study-specific version of a life value questionnaire, including ratings of the perceived attainment and importance of seven life value dimensions. Women with a recent diagnosis of primary breast cancer were found to attribute significantly more importance to positive relations than healthy controls. No other differences between these groups were found regarding the attainment or importance of life values. Perceptions of life values were found to vary as a function of age, marital or cohabitation status, and parenthood, and to be stable over a 9-month period in screening attendees. The implications of the current findings for the understanding of women's psychological adaptation to breast cancer are discussed.