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- Reproduction-related cognitive processing and distress among young adult women: the role of personal breast cancer historyPublication . Bártolo, Ana; Santos, Isabel M.; Guimarães, Raquel; Reis, Salomé; Monteiro, SaraBreast cancer diagnosis can threaten fertility and biological motherhood in women of reproductive age due to the gonadotoxic efects of treatments. Much evidence documents these women fertility-related concerns and distress, but no study has attempted to understand how implicit cognitive processes can contribute to this maladjustment. In this research, we explored whether reproduction-related stimuli interfere with cognition among cancer survivors with infertility risk using an emotional Stroop task. Furthermore, we investigated the relationship between reproduction-related cognitive processing and psychological morbidity. Young cancer survivors aged 18–40 years who received anticancer treatments and an age-matched noncancer control group without known fertility problems were compared. Color-naming times and error rates were assessed. Participants in both groups were slower naming the color of reproduction-related words in comparison to unrelated negative valence words. Although in the same direction, this diference did not reach statistical signifcance for positive and neutral unrelated word lists. Further analysis suggested that biased attention toward reproduction-related information was associated with higher depression levels in young women with personal breast cancer history, but not in healthy women. These fndings suggest that biased processing of reproduction-related cues might be a vulnerability factor after a breast cancer diagnosis. Additionally, this study puts in evidence the potential usefulness of using experimental tasks to investigate attentional bias in a context where fertility is at risk.
- Attentional bias toward reproduction-related stimuli and fertility concerns among breast cancer survivorsPublication . Bártolo, Ana; Santos, Isabel M.; Guimarães, Raquel; Reis, Salomé; Monteiro, SaraThe current study examined whether an attentional bias exists for reproduction-related visual cues among breast cancer survivors and its relationship with fertility concerns and emotional distress. Breast cancer survivors (n ¼ 38) aged 18–40 were compared to 37 healthy women recruited from the general population. Attentional bias was investigated using a visual dot-probe task and response times (RT) were measured. Participants also completed several questionnaires, including the Reproductive Concerns After Cancer Scale (RCACS) and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). Biased cognitive processing toward reproduction-related stimuli was observed for all young women. However, attentional bias was a significant predictor of concerns about partner disclosure of fertility status, with higher bias scores associated with higher levels of concern only for breast cancer survivors. The desire to have a (or another) biological child was also a significant predictor of higher concerns related with fertility potential for all young women. Higher vigilance regarding reproduction-related cues seems to lead to higher concerns among women with breast cancer history whose fertility is threatened. This result may have important research and clinical implications. Interventions focused on goal-oriented attention self-regulation and problemsolving can help to manage fertility concerns and distress in the course of the disease.