Objective
A cancer diagnosis during pregnancy may be considered as an emotional challengefor pregnant women and their partners. We aimed to identify women and partners at risk for highlevels of distress based on their coping profile.
Methods
Sixty‐one pregnant women diagnosed with cancer and their partners filled out theCognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and the newly constructed Cancer andPregnancy Questionnaire (CPQ). K‐means cluster analysis was performed on the CERQ scales.Scores on the CPQ were compared between the women and their partners and between theCERQ‐clusters.
Results
Comparison of women and partners on the CPQ did not reveal significant differenceson distress about the child’s health, the cancer disease, and the pregnancy or on information sat-isfaction (P = .16, P = .44, P = .50, and P = .47,...
Show moreObjective
A cancer diagnosis during pregnancy may be considered as an emotional challengefor pregnant women and their partners. We aimed to identify women and partners at risk for highlevels of distress based on their coping profile.
Methods
Sixty‐one pregnant women diagnosed with cancer and their partners filled out theCognitive Emotion Regulation Questionnaire (CERQ) and the newly constructed Cancer andPregnancy Questionnaire (CPQ). K‐means cluster analysis was performed on the CERQ scales.Scores on the CPQ were compared between the women and their partners and between theCERQ‐clusters.
Results
Comparison of women and partners on the CPQ did not reveal significant differenceson distress about the child’s health, the cancer disease, and the pregnancy or on information sat-isfaction (P = .16, P = .44, P = .50, and P = .47, respectively). However, women were more inclinedto maintain the pregnancy than their partners (P = .011). Three clusters were retrieved based onthe CERQ scales, characterized by positive coping, internalizing coping, and blaming. Women andpartners using internalizing strategies had significantly higher scores on concerns about thechild’s health (P = .039), the disease and treatment (P < .001), and the pregnancy and delivery(P = .009) compared with positive and blaming strategies. No cluster differences were foundfor information satisfaction (P = .71) and tendency to maintain the pregnancy (P = .35).
Conclusion
Women and partners using internalizing coping strategies deal with the highestlevels of distress and may benefit from additional psychosocial support.
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