The illness representations-physical well-being interplay over time in breast cancer patients.
Evangelos C Karademas, Ilan Roziner, Ketti Mazzocco, Ruth Pat-Horenczyk, Berta Sousa, Albino J Oliveira-Maia, Georgios Stamatakos, Haridimos Kondylakis, Eleni Kolokotroni, S��lvia Almeida, Raquel Lemos, Johanna Mattson, Panagiotis Simos, Paula Poikonen-Saksela
Author Information
Evangelos C Karademas: Department of Psychology, University of Crete. ORCID
Ilan Roziner: Department of Communication Disorders, Faculty of Medical and Health Sciences, Tel Aviv University.
Ketti Mazzocco: Department of Oncology and Hemato-oncology, University of Milan.
Ruth Pat-Horenczyk: School of Social Work and Social Welfare, Hebrew University of Jerusalem.
Berta Sousa: Breast Unit, Champalimaud Clinical Centre, Champalimaud Foundation.
Albino J Oliveira-Maia: Champalimaud Research and Clinical Centre, Champalimaud Foundation.
Georgios Stamatakos: Institute of Communication and Computer Systems, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens.
Haridimos Kondylakis: Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas.
Eleni Kolokotroni: Institute of Communication and Computer Systems, School of Electrical and Computer Engineering, National Technical University of Athens.
S��lvia Almeida: Champalimaud Research and Clinical Centre, Champalimaud Foundation.
Raquel Lemos: Champalimaud Research and Clinical Centre, Champalimaud Foundation.
Johanna Mattson: Helsinki University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center.
Panagiotis Simos: Foundation for Research and Technology - Hellas.
Paula Poikonen-Saksela: Helsinki University Hospital Comprehensive Cancer Center.
OBJECTIVE: Many studies have shown the prospective relation of illness representations to breast cancer patients' well-being. Still, very few have examined their bidirectional relationship over time. Here, the long-term mutual effects between physical well-being and illness representations were examined at the within-person level. METHOD: Female patients with breast cancer were enrolled in the study 2-5 weeks after the surgery or biopsy (baseline = 706; = 54.93). Several illness representations (i.e., illness consequences, timeline, personal control, and emotional representations) and physical well-being (i.e., general physical functioning and specific breast and arm symptoms) were assessed at 6, 12, and 18 months after patients' inclusion in the study (years of data collection: 2019-2021). Two random-intercept cross-lagged panel models were used to examine whether intrapersonal changes in the two variables predicted each other across time. RESULTS: The findings showed strong general relations between illness representations and physical well-being at the between-person level. However, only changes in timeline and emotional representations predicted intrapersonal subsequent changes in physical functioning and arm and breast symptoms, respectively. No other cross-lagged effects were found. CONCLUSIONS: While illness representations are significantly associated with physical well-being at the between-person level, their impact significantly varies at the within-person level. The findings reflect the complex relationships between these factors in patients with breast cancer and point to the need for new theoretical approaches to better depict their long-term intrapersonal interplay. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2025 APA, all rights reserved).
