Coping and adapting to breast cancer: a six-month prospective study.

Aims: To compare ways of coping with breast cancer in acute and chronic periods and to approach their efficiency on psychological adaptation at each time.

Methods: Psychometric evaluation of 151 breast cancer women the day before surgery (T1), and of 107 of them 6 months later (T2), with self-rated questionnaires (CHIP Scale, HADS), "t Student" tests, correlation analyses and multiple regression analyses.

Results And Discussion: The coping scores during the chronic period are related to those observed during the acute period, with a decrease of instrumental strategies and a stability of distraction and palliative coping.