State anxiety and cancer-specific anxiety in survivors of breast cancer.

The current study aimed to identify rates and predictors (demographic, treatment, and psychological variables) of state and cancer-specific anxiety among survivors of breast cancer. Data were collected through a structured telephone interview with 120 women who were at least one year posttreatment. Rates of state anxiety were substantially lower than were the norms for general medical patients. Cancerspecific anxiety was also mild. In hierarchical regression analyses, higher levels of trait anxiety were associated with state and cancer specific anxiety (beta = .73, p < .001, and beta = .34, p < .001, respectively). Higher levels of risk perception were associated only with greater cancerspecific anxiety (beta = .03, p = .057). The findings suggest the need for specificity in assessing anxiety among women with a history of breast cancer. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]