Teen girls with a family history of breast cancer do not experience increased depression or anxiety
"Overall, girls in families with a history of breast cancer seem to cope pretty well over time; they do worry more about breast cancer than their peers do, particularly as they get older, but that doesn't seem to impact them in terms of depression, anxiety, and general psychosocial adjustment," said lead author Angela R. Bradbury, MD, an assistant professor of Hematology/Oncology in Penn's Abramson Cancer Center. The new study, which examines psychological adjustments of girls aged 11-19, follows a 2015 study from the same research team which showed similar results in pre-adolescent girls, aged 10-13. The new research followed 320 girls, 208 of whom were from families with a history of breast cancer or BRCA1/2 mutations in near relatives, while 112 were "controls" with no such family history. The researchers interviewed the girls and their birth mothers and administered standard tests to assess their psychosocial adjustment, perception of breast ca...