Coping with genetic testing for breast cancer susceptibility

To examine how women cope with genetic testing for heightened susceptibility to breast cancer.

Participants were 126 White women (age = 44 +/- 9 years) who were participants in a larger study of genetic testing for risk of different chronic diseases. All women were at higher-than-average risk for breast cancer due to a personal and/or family history and were considering genetic testing. Distress (Symptom Checklist-90-Revised, Impact of Event Scale, Perceived Stress Scale, Spielberger State-Trait Anxiety Inventory, and the Center for Epidemiological Studies Depression Scale) was assessed at four assessments; one before and three after the decision to have genetic testing. The majority of women (n = 100) had testing. The follow-up assessments occurred at 1 week after receiving results (or 3-4 months after baseline if testing was not elected), and then at 3 and 6 months after the second assessment. Coping (Brief COPE) was measured at the first and third assessments.

Coping was relatively stable over time and did not vary as a function of genetic test results. Active coping strategies were used more often by women with a personal cancer history than by women without cancer. Use of avoidant coping was reliably and positively associated with distress over time independent of cancer history and test result.

The identification of specific coping styles that were associated with more or less distress is useful as a means of identifying and targeting coping interventions and predicting which participants may be at risk for distress.