The effect of emotional support, negative interpersonal interaction, emotional control, and pain upon depression and anxiety among Chinese cancer patients.

摘要

Research with Western cancer patients has suggested that emotional support, negative interpersonal interaction, emotional control, and pain contribute to depression and anxiety. It is not clear however, whether these findings can be generalized to non-Western cancer patients. This study investigated the hypothesized effects of these four predictors on depression and anxiety among Chinese cancer patients in Hong Kong. Participants consisted of 40 female breast cancer patients, 40 female nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients, and 39 male nasopharyngeal carcinoma patients recruited from a radiology and oncology center at a public Hong Kong hospital. The predictors, emotional support, negative interpersonal interaction, emotional control, and pain were measured by the Emotional Support Subscale (Barrera, 1981; ESS), Courtauld Emotional Control Scale (Watson & Greer, 1983; CECS), Negative Interpersonal Interaction Scale (NIIS), and Pain Index (PI), respectively. The criterion variables, depression and anxiety, were measured by the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale (Radloff, 1977; CES-D) and State Subscale of the State-Trait Anxiety Inventory (Spielberger, Gorsuch, Lushene, Vagg, & Jacobs 1983; STAI-S), respectively. The complete battery of questionnaires was administered individually to each patient before his/her scheduled routine medical check-up. Results of two multiple regression analyses indicated that higher NIIS scores and lower ESS scores were significantly related to higher CES-D scores (R 2=.34) whereas only higher NIIS scores were significantly related to higher STAI-S scores (R2=.31). Negative interpersonal interaction was the only predictor variable with a significant relation with both of the criterion variables of depression and anxiety. Emotional support was significantly related to depression but not anxiety. Pain and emotional control were not significantly related to depression or anxiety level. The findings in this study replicated the effect of negative interpersonal interaction upon depression and anxiety and replicated the effect of emotional support on depression as found with Western cancer patients. The effects emotional control and pain upon depression and anxiety found in Western studies may not generalize to a Hong Kong Chinese cancer patient sample. These results provide information that may be used in the design and implementation of depression and anxiety prevention and treatment strategies for Chinese cancer patients.