Abstract
Objective: For cancer survivors, the recovery phase after hospital treatment can be bothersome. Social comparison information from fellow cancer survivors can improve the quality of life in this situation. Method: In a randomized field experiment, 139 Dutch cancer survivors (M-age = 52 years; 70.5% women) were assigned to a control condition or 1 of 3 experimental conditions in which they listened to an interview with fellow cancer survivors. The interview's content is about patients' negative emotions and/or the effective coping strategies patients used. A validation study among 101 students showed that the conditions were perceived as intended. In the main study, quality of life was assessed after 2 months (using the LASA, Cantrils' Ladder, and 2 items of the EORTC-C30). Results: The effects of the interviews depended on the participants' self-reported health status and sensitivity to social comparison information (p
| Original language | English |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 660-670 |
| Number of pages | 11 |
| Journal | Health Psychology |
| Volume | 31 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| Publication status | Published - Sept-2012 |
Keywords
- social comparison
- interview
- quality of life
- cancer patients
- individual differences
- PSYCHOLOGICAL PERSPECTIVE
- DOWNWARD EVALUATION
- SELF-EVALUATIONS
- BREAST-CANCER
- DEPRESSION
- CONTRAST
- CONSEQUENCES
- ASSIMILATION
- INFORMATION
- ADJUSTMENT