Anger, Coping, and Quality of Life in Female Cancer Patients

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships among anger, coping, and quality of life (QoL) in female cancer patients. We asked 144 female cancer patients with either a malignant or a benign diagnosis to complete the Profile of Mood States (POMS; McNair, Lorr, & Droppleman, 1971), the Brief COPE questionnaire (Carver, 1997), and the Quality of Life in Adult Cancer Survivors (QLACS; Avis et al., 2005) questionnaire. The total score indicating a low level of anger was significantly negatively associated with adaptive cognitive strategies and significantly positively associated with maladaptive coping strategies. Correlation analysis showed that there was a relationship between QoL factors and low anger scores. This knowledge may be incorporated in psychological intervention in the form of recognition and understanding of anger in cancer patients.