Keywords
breast cancer
benign breast diseases
psycho-oncology
self-acceptance
emotional regulation
resilience
illness perception
psychological adaptation
How to Cite
Abstract
Breast diseases, particularly breast cancer, represent not only a medical but also a profound psychological challenge associated with uncertainty, existential threat, altered body image, and long-term emotional distress. Within the contemporary biopsychosocial paradigm, psychological factors are increasingly conceptualized not as direct etiological causes of oncological pathology but as vulnerability-related predispositions influencing stress processing, emotional regulation, adaptation, and the subjective experience of illness. The present study aimed to identify latent psychological factors associated with vulnerability to benign and malignant breast diseases in women and to explore the structural organization of these factors within the personality system.
The empirical study involved 365 women aged 16 to 74 years, including women diagnosed with breast cancer, women with benign breast diseases, healthy women with a family history of breast cancer, and a control group of practically healthy women. A comprehensive psychodiagnostic battery was used to assess psychological well-being, resilience, emotional distress, post-traumatic stress symptoms, somatic complaints, personality traits, and relational-resource characteristics. Factor analysis was conducted using the principal axis factoring method with varimax rotation and Kaiser normalization in order to identify latent psychological constructs.
The analysis revealed six factors explaining 61% of the total variance: (1) trust and socially conditioned involvement; (2) socially conditioned discipline and behavioral rigidity; (3) self-acceptance through attachment to others; (4) personality maturity; (5) autonomy and self-regulation; and (6) emotional stability. The obtained factor structure indicates that psychological vulnerability in women with breast diseases may be associated with a specific configuration of personality characteristics combining relationally conditioned self-acceptance, dependence on significant relationships, socially normative discipline, behavioral rigidity, and reduced flexibility in coping with uncertainty and stress. Simultaneously, the personality structure also contains important resource-related components associated with trust, meaning orientations, autonomy, self-regulation, and personal maturity.
Particular attention is drawn to the relational nature of self-acceptance and to the ambivalent role of emotional stability, which may reflect not only adaptive self-regulation but also emotional suppression and internalized affective control. The findings support the assumption that psychological vulnerability to breast diseases may emerge through complex interactions between relational identity, emotional regulation, coping style, and psychosocial adaptation rather than through isolated personality traits.
The study contributes to the development of psycho-oncological research by proposing an integrative model of psychological vulnerability in women with breast diseases and provides a basis for further investigation of psychological markers associated with distress, illness perception, body-related identity, and adaptation processes. The identified factors may also serve as a conceptual framework for developing preventive, supportive, and psychocorrective interventions for women with benign and malignant breast diseases.
Keywords: psychological vulnerability, breast cancer, benign breast diseases, psycho-oncology, self-acceptance, emotional regulation, resilience, illness perception, psychological adaptation.
Date of receipt of the article: 21 October 2025
Date of acceptance for publication: 20 February 2026
Date of publication: 28 February 2026
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Copyright (c) 2026 Liudmyla Z. Serdiuk, Halyna F. Chernenko, Serhii О. Sobchenko