Research on Quality of Attachment in Women with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Analysis of quality of attachment of women with breast cancer within 1 year after initial diagnosing and subsequent treatment was performed in the article by means of the Measure of Attachment Qualities (MAQ) scale (Carver, 1997). 41 women of Bulgarian origin at an average age of 35.25 years (at least 18 and 69 at the most) in stage I, II and III of the disease progress were studied. For the specific sample, the reliability of 4 scales (secure, avoidant, ambivalent-worried and ambivalent-merging attachment) was presented. The quality of attachment was analysed by: 1) medical characteristics (partial or total surgery, surgical removal of lymph nodes, presence or absence of metastases in them), 2) classical therapies (chemotherapy, radiation therapy and hormonal therapy) administered or not and 3) application or not of alternative therapies (herbal medicine, physical load, administration of massage, lymph drainage, use of nutritional supplements, observance of diet).

Language: Bulgarian