Women's marital adjustment and hopelessness levels after mastectomy

Abstract

Aim: This descriptive study aims to determine the marital adjustment and hopelessness level of breast cancer in women who had a mastectomy. Materials and methods: The study was carried out in Ondokuz Mayıs University, Medical Faculty's chemotherapy, radiotherapy and surgical clinics. A sample of 59 subjects were included in the study. A descriptive questionnaire, the dyadic adjustment scale, and Beck's hopelessness scale were used to collect the data. Results: 38.3% of women stated that, they believed the operation would not affect their marriages while 34% of them stated that, they believed the operation would affect negatively their marriages. The hopelessness score for these women was average at 5.02 ± 4.82. Marital adjustment was also average, with a score of 102.79 ± 24.68. No relationship was found between marital adjustment and hopelessness in the sample (r = -0.021, p = 0.875). However, it was found that the status of hopelessness as perceived by women before the mastectomy affected marital adjustment (p < 0.05) but this was not linked with hopelessness after the mastectomy (p > 0.05). Age, education, place of living and marital relationship status were not linked with hopelessness and marital adjustment after the mastectomy. The marital adjustment of the women who did not feel hopeless was found to be higher than those who were feeling hopelessness. Conclusion: The results of the study suggest that hopelessness levels in women with a mastectomy are low and their marital adjustment level at a medium level. However, some women with mastectomy, particularly those who feel hopelessness and have weak family relationships may need more support to cope with this experience. © 2009 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.