Protective Role of Perceived Social Support for Patient’s and Caregiver’s Psychological Distress During Breast Cancer Treatment

Understanding the role of perceived social support for breast cancer patients and their family caregivers may contribute to the understanding of protective factors against psychological distress after a breast cancer diagnosis. This study examines the buffering effect of perceived social support on the influence of stress during breast cancer treatment on two key outcomes: anxiety and depression. Sixty-four family caregivers and female breast cancer patients from Appalachia with stage I-III estrogen-receptor positive (ER/PR+, HER2) diagnosis completed the Short Form Perceived Stress Scale, the Medical Outcomes Study Social Support Survey, the Generalized Anxiety Disorder Scale, and the Center for Epidemiologic Studies Depression Scale.

I predicted that higher amounts of perceived social support would moderate the effects of perceived stress before treatment on psychological distress after primary treatment. Data was analyzed using actor-partner interdependence modeling (Kenny et al., 2006) to account for the dyadic nature of the data. Each model was run separately, and my hypotheses were partially confirmed. Interestingly, there were no significant interpersonal effects when the interaction terms of support were added, although there were significant buffering intrapersonal effects. Further research is needed to elucidate under what conditions perceived social support is a protective factor for breast cancer patients and their caregivers.