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Factors related to anxiety and depression in women with breast cancer and their husbands: role of alexithymia and family functioning

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Abstract

Goals of work

The purpose of this study was to explore alexithymia, family functioning, and other factors that might affect anxiety and depression levels in women with breast cancer and in their husbands.

Patients and methods

A cross-sectional study was undertaken in 46 postsurgical ambulatory women with breast cancer and their husbands. Documented informed consent for the study was obtained from each subject. All subjects completed the Zung self-rating anxiety scale (SAS), the Zung self-rating depression scale (SDS), the 20-item Toronto alexithymia scale (TAS-20), and the family assessment device (FAD).

Main results

Multiple regression analysis revealed that a high degree of alexithymia in patients correlated with a high degree of patient anxiety. Patient perceptions of inappropriate affective responsiveness among family members correlated with a high degree of depression. Among husbands, a high degree of anxiety was correlated with their own high level of alexithymia or low level of education, and with the occurrence of adjuvant therapy in their wives. Husband perceptions of inappropriate sharing of roles among family members, their own low education level, and a large number of family members correlated with high degrees of depression among them.

Conclusions

The present study revealed that alexithymia and family functioning are associated with anxiety and depression, respectively, in both women with breast cancer and in their husbands. Individual traits such as alexithymia and family functioning should be taken into account when we intervene to treat anxiety and depression in breast cancer patients and their husbands.

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Acknowledgments

The authors are grateful to all the patients and their husbands for so willingly giving their time. The authors would also like to acknowledge the collaborative support from the surgeons and from the nursing staff of the Mammary Gland Dispensary at Hiroshima University Hospital.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychiatry and Neurosciences, Division of Frontier Medical Science, Programs for Biomedical Research, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan

    Tomoyuki Mantani & Shigeto Yamawaki

  2. Department of General Medicine, Hiroshima University Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan

    Toshinari Saeki

  3. Senogawa Hospital, Hiroshima, Japan

    Shinichi Inoue

  4. Department of Psychosocial Rehabilitation, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan

    Hitoshi Okamura

  5. Graduate School of Nursing, Asahikawa Medical College, Asahikawa, Japan

    Minako Daino

  6. Department of Health Care for Adults, Graduate School of Health Sciences, Hiroshima University, 1-2-3 Kasumi, Minami-ku, Hiroshima, 734-8551, Japan

    Tsuyoshi Kataoka

Authors
  1. Tomoyuki Mantani
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  2. Toshinari Saeki
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  3. Shinichi Inoue
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  4. Hitoshi Okamura
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  5. Minako Daino
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  6. Tsuyoshi Kataoka
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  7. Shigeto Yamawaki
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Shigeto Yamawaki.

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Mantani, T., Saeki, T., Inoue, S. et al. Factors related to anxiety and depression in women with breast cancer and their husbands: role of alexithymia and family functioning. Support Care Cancer 15, 859–868 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-006-0209-4

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-006-0209-4

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