Abstract
We examined attributions of behavioral and characterological self-blame and perceptions of control over disease progression and recurrence as predictors of symptoms of psychological distress in a sample of adult men and women with cancer. Data were obtained near the time of diagnosis and at 4-month follow-up. Initial levels of behavioral and characterological self-blame were unrelated to concurrent psychological distress. Initial characterological self-blame as well as the interaction of characterological and behavioral self-blame was predictive of psychological distress 4 months later. Perceptions of control over cancer recurrence were unrelated to psychological distress near diagnosis or at follow-up, and control beliefs did not function as a mediator of self-blame. Initial levels of psychological distress predicted characterological but not behavioral self-blame at follow-up, suggesting a reciprocal relationship between characterological self-blame and distress.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
Abramson, L. Y., Seligman, M. E. P., and Teasdale, J. D. (1978). Learned helplessness in humans: Critique and reformulation.J. Abnorm. Psychol. 87: 49–74.
Affleck, G., Tennen, H., Pfeiffer, C., and Fifield, J. (1987). Appraisals of control and predictability in adapting to a chronic disease.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 53: 273–279.
Baron, R. M., and Kenny, D. A. (1986). The moderator-mediator variable distinction in social psychological research: Conceptual, strategic, and statistical considerations.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 51: 1173–1182.
Derogatis, L. R., and Spencer, P. M. (1982).The Brief Symptom Inventory (BSI) Administration, Procedures, and Scoring Manual—I, Author, Baltimore, MD.
Finney, J. W., Mitchell, R. E., Cronkite, R. C., and Moos, R. H. (1984). Methodological issues in estimating main and interactive effects: Examples from coping/social support and stress field.J. Health Soc. Behav. 25: 85–98.
Folkman, S. (1984). Personal control and stress and coping processes: A theoretical analysis.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 46: 839–852.
Gotay, C. C. (1985). Why me? Attributions and adjustment by cancer patients and their mates at two stages in the disease process.Soc. Sci. Med. 20: 825–831.
Helgeson, V. S. (1992). Moderators of the relation between perceived control and adjustment to chronic illness.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 63: 656–666.
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1979). Characterological versus behavioral self-blame: Inquiries into depression and rape.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 37: 1798–1809.
Janoff-Bulman, R. (1992).Shattered Assumptions: Towards a New Psychology of Trauma, Free Press, New York.
Larzelere, R. E., and Mulaik, S. A. (1977). Single-sample tests for many correlations.Psychol. Bull. 84: 557–569.
Lazarus, R. S., and Folkman, S. (1984).Stress, Appraisal, and Coping. Springer Verlag, New York.
McCann, I. L., and Pearlman, L. A. (1990).Psychological Trauma and the Adult Survivor: Theory, Therapy, and Transformations, Brunner/Mazel, New York.
Mueller, P., and Major, B. (1989). Self-blame, self-efficacy, and adjustment to abortion.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 57: 1059–1068.
Peterson, C., Schwartz, S. M., and Seligman, M. E. P. (1989). Self-blame and depressive symptoms.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 41: 253–259.
Taylor, S. E. (1983). Adjustment to threatening events: A theory of cognitive adaptation.Am. Psychol. 38: 1161–1173.
Taylor, S. E., Lichtman, R. R., and Wood, J. V. (1984). Attributions, beliefs about control, and adjustment to breast cancer.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 46: 489–502.
Tennen, H., and Affleck, G. (1990). Blaming others for threatening events.Psychol. Bull. 108: 209–232.
Tennen, H., Affleck, G., and Gershman, K. (1986). Self-blame among parents of infants with perinatal complications: The role of self-protective motives.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 50: 690–696.
Thompson, S. C., Sobolew-Shubin, A., Galbraith, M. E., Schwankovsky, L., and Cruzen, D. (1993). Maintaining perceptions of control: Finding perceived control in low-control circumstances.J. Personal. Soc. Psychol. 64: 293–304.
Timko, C., and Janoff-Bulman, R. (1985). Attributions, vulnerability, and psychological adjustment: The case of breast cancer.Health Psychol. 4: 521–544.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Malcarne, V.L., Compas, B.E., Epping-Jordan, J.E. et al. Cognitive factors in adjustment to cancer: Attributions of self-blame and perceptions of control. J Behav Med 18, 401–417 (1995). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01904771
Accepted:
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01904771