Gender Differences in the Use of Engagement and Disengagement Coping Strategies in Patients With Cancer Receiving Chemotherapy
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVES: To evaluate the relationship between gender and coping strategies in patients with cancer undergoing chemotherapy in outpatient settings. SAMPLE & SETTING: Women (N = 277) and men (N = 293) were recruited from two comprehensive cancer centers, one Veterans Affairs hospital, and four community-based oncology programs. METHODS & VARIABLES: Coping data were obtained from patients with gastrointestinal (n = 412) or lung (n = 158) cancer through the Brief COPE scale. RESULTS: In terms of engagement coping strategies, women reported higher scores for positive reframing, religion, and using instrumental support. Men reported higher scores for humor. In terms of disengagement coping strategies, women reported higher scores for denial, venting, and self-distraction. Men reported higher scores for substance use. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING: Gender-based stereotypes of emotional expectations may affect how patients express themselves and the ways in which support is offered. Clinicians should be aware of their own preconceived notions about sex and gender and reflect on how these may influence the psychosocial care they provide.
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Women with cancer had higher scores of avoidant coping strategies than males [69].
“These results are consistent with a recent study [69] showing that women with cancer had higher scores of avoidant coping strategies than males.”
From Psychological variables associated with quality of life in patients with head and neck cancer: the role of body image distress (2022) · cites this paper as [69]
The Results section reports that women receiving chemotherapy for gastrointestinal or lung cancer scored higher than men on three disengagement coping strategies: self-distraction, denial, and venting. The claim generalizes this to avoidant coping strategies overall; the same section reports higher substance-use scores in men and no significant difference in behavioral disengagement. (LLM, conf=0.86)
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- Authors
- Oppegaard, K., Dunn, L., Kober, K., Mackin, L., Hammer, M., Conley, Y., Levine, J., & Miaskowski, C.
- Affiliations
- University of California, San Francisco (US)
- Stanford University (US)
- Dana-Farber Cancer Institute (US)
- University of Pittsburgh (US)
- Venue
- Oncology Nursing Forum
- Publisher
- Oncology Nursing Society (ONS)
- Published
- 2020-09-01
- Volume
- 47
- Issue
- 5
- Pages
- 586-594
- ISSN
- 0190-535X (ISSN-L)
- 1538-0688
- PMC
- PMC10788967
- OpenAlex
- W3080118220
- Cited by
- 23
- References
- 47
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 11 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 2 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 0.54
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Oncology nursing forum (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- Hartford Foundation for Public Giving
- Oncology Nursing Foundation (CA134900)
- National Cancer Institute (R01CA134900, CA134900)
- National Institute of Nursing Research (T32NR016920)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Palliative and Oncologic Care
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Public Health, Environmental and Occupational Health › Women's cancer prevention and management
- Keywords
- gender differences, coping strategies, engagement coping, disengagement coping, cancer patients, chemotherapy, Brief COPE scale, positive reframing, denial, humor, substance use, psychosocial care, gastrointestinal cancer, lung cancer, gender stereotypes
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Emotions, Female, Humans, Male, Neoplasms, Surveys and Questionnaires, Religion, Sex Factors
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