Stress Coping and Changes in Health Behavior Among Cancer Survivors: A Report from the American Cancer Society's Study of Cancer Survivors-II (SCS-II)

This study used the transactional model of stress and coping to examine the relationship between cancer survivors' self-reported efforts to manage stress and the adoption of health behaviors across various lifestyle behavior domains. The authors analyzed data of 2,888 cancer survivors from a national, population-based, cross-sectional survey. Cancer survivors who indicated making active efforts to control stress were more likely to make changes in their physical, psychosocial, and preventive health behaviors as compared to cancer survivors who used passive stress-coping approaches. Future interventions aimed at promoting health behaviors among cancer survivors may benefit from incorporating a stress-coping component.