A relationship between perceived self-efficacy and quality of life in cancer patients.

The quality of life of cancer patients may be influenced by the degree of control they feel able to exert over stressful situations arising from having the disease. We were able to test this association using a newly developed instrument, the Stanford Inventory of Cancer Patient Adjustment which assesses perceived self-efficacy, that is, perceived ability to enact coping strategies. In a heterogeneous sample of 273 cancer patients a strong positive correlation was found between self-efficacy and quality of life and between self-efficacy and mood. Improvements in all three measures brought about by a brief, group program teaching coping skills were also highly correlated. By contrast, no significant association was seen between improvement in mood or quality of life and amount of home practice of coping skills.