Cancer-related intrusive thoughts as an indicator of poor psychological adjustment at 3 or more years after breast surgery: A preliminary study

Intrusive thoughts are one of the re-experiencing symptoms in posttraumatic stress disorder, and have been suggested as a predictor for the continuous presence of psychological distress in cancer survivors. The aim of this preliminary study was to examine the possibility of using cancer-related intrusive thoughts (CITs) as an indicator of psychological distress and adjustment after breast surgery. A consecutive series of ambulatory breast cancer survivors at 3 or more years after surgery were given the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM-IV (SCID) and self-report questionnaires, including Profile Of Mood States (POMS), Impact of Event Scale (IES) and Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MAC) scale, to measure psychological distress and/or adjustment. The SCID identified a history of CITs in 34 (46%) of the 74 participants. No significant differences were found in the POMS and IES psychological distress scores between subjects with and without a history of CITs. Subjects with a history of CITs showed significantly higher levels of anxious preoccupation, one of the MAC subscale scores. The association continued to be significant after controlling for potential confounders such as social support, depression, avoidance, arousal, and neuroticism. The results indicated that CITs might be useful for indicating poor psychological adjustment, but not distress, in patients at 3 or more years after breast surgery.