Personal characteristics and adherence of participants in a psychological breast cancer intervention

Abstract

Breast cancer decreases the life quality of its victims. Therefore, a goal of therapy is to maintain or improve life quality. Psychological interventions, such as the Self-Help Intervention Project (SHIP), have been proven to positively influence life quality (Andersen, 1992; Meyer & Mark, 1995). It would be helpful to know the personal characteristic profile of women who tend to highly or lowly participate in the SHIP. This study, a secondary analysis, sought to identify the personal characteristic profiles of high and low participants. The results of this study revealed two significant differences between the participation groups in background characteristics. No significant differences were found between the groups regarding any study variable; however, several trends were identified. The study variables were not directly associated with participation patterns in the SHIP. Future studies are needed to identify other personal characteristics that are associated with participation.