Anger in health, benign breast disease and breast cancer: a prospective case-control study

Abstract

Background: The State-Trait Anger Expression Inventory 2 (STAXI-2) is a psychometric instrument measuring anger experience and expression. Associations between the STAXI-2 and risk of breast cancer (BC) are rarely considered together in a prospective study.

Patients and methods: A total of 117 women with breast symptoms referred for breast examination were selected and assessed before any diagnostic procedures.

Results: Twenty-four patients with BC, 44 with benign breast disease (BBD) and 49 healthy individuals (HHS) were included. Scores for parameters state anger/feel like expressing anger physically (SANGP) were significantly higher in the HHS group (HHS vs. BBD: p=0.027; HHS vs. BC: p=0.025). BC patients showed a trend to lower scores in almost all scales of STAXI-2, except for the scales trait anger/angry temperament (TANGT), anger expression-in (AX-I), and anger control-out (AC-O), that were higher than the two other groups' scores.

Conclusion: The results of this study do not support a specific link between STAXI-2 and breast cancer risk.

Keywords: Breast disease; STAXI-2; anger; breast cancer risk.