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Abstract
Coping, perceived control, and symptoms ofanxiety/depression were assessed in 70 women with breastcancer near their diagnosis and at 3- and 6-monthfollow-ups. Multiple regression equations wereconstructed to investigate the effects of coping, perceivedcontrol, and their interaction on anxiety/depressionsymptoms. Problemfocused engagement coping was relatedto lower anxiety/depression symptoms neardiagnosis;emotion-focused disengagementcopingwas related tomoreanxiety/depression symptoms at 6 months, controllingfor initial anxiety/depression; and problemfocusedengagement was marginally related to loweranxiety/depression symptoms at 6 months controlling for initialanxiety/depression. There were no main effects forperceived control. The interaction of problem-focusedengagement coping and perceived control was asignificant predictor of lower anxiety/depression symptomsonly near the time of diagnosis. Thus, thegoodness-of-fit effect, in which problemfocused copinginteracts with perceived control to predict lower levels of anxiety/depression, was replicatedcross-sectionally, but not prospectively.