Predicting the status of the immune system through coping strategies with stress and personality type D mediated by defense mechanisms in patients with breast cancer

Breast cancer, as the most common cancer, is the cause of death of millions of people around the world. The aim of this study was to present a model for predicting the status of the immune system through coping strategies with stress and personality type D mediated by defense mechanisms in patients with breast cancer.

The statistical population of the present study included all women with breast cancer in Tehran and Gilan in 2019, from which 250 were selected by purposive sampling. Data were collected using a checklist of warning signs of immunodeficiency, a questionnaire of defense mechanisms, a questionnaire of personality type D and a questionnaire of coping strategies. The data were analyzed using structural equation method and smart-PLS- v3 software was analyzed.

The results showed that coping strategies did not have a significant direct effect on immune status scores. The direct effect of personality type D on immune status scores was significant. Defense mechanisms did not mediate the relationship between coping styles with stress and personality type D with immune status scores.

In general, it can be concluded that in patients with breast cancer, personality type D has a significant effect on the state of the immune system, and therefore therapists and health professionals can design interventions based on the correction of personality type D, Help these people overcome their illness.