Self-efficacy and fear of cancer progression during the year following diagnosis of breast cancer

Objective The aim of this study was to investigate fear of disease progression (FoP) during the year following diagnosis of breast cancer and its association with general self-efficacy (SE). Methods In a prospective study, 118 breast cancer patients were recruited shortly after diagnosis disclosure (response rate: 54%) and at 1-year follow-up (follow-up rate: 90%). Participants completed self-report measures of general self-efficacy (General Self-Efficacy Scale) and fear of progression (short form of the Fear of Progression Questionnaire). Results Cross-sectional regression analysis revealed that high FoP is significantly associated with low SE, even when controlling for demographic and medical characteristics (total R² = 0.17). Having children and a relatively short time since diagnosis also significantly predicted higher FoP. Longitudinal analyses showed that FoP decreased significantly over time (p = 0.001; d = 0.25), but a significant decrease was only observed for patients with high initial FoP (p