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Publication
Reproduction-related cognitive processing and distress among young adult women: the role of personal breast cancer history
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Advisor(s)
Abstract(s)
Breast 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.
Description
Keywords
Attentional bias Reproduction-related stimuli Oncology Depression