Appraisals, coping responses, and attributions as predictors of individual differences in negative emotions among pediatric cancer patients

This study examined individual differences in emotional responses to cancer by applying Lauzrus's and Weiner's cognitive models of emotions. Seventy-two adolescents with cancer completed self- report measures of coping, attributions and appraisals, and their parents reported on behavioral functioning and clinical status. Controlling for illness variables, hypothesized appraisals were significantly associated with trait anger (among boys) and with depressive symptoms (among girls), not with trait anxiety. Primary appraisals were more strongly associated with dependent variables than were secondary appraisals. There was little support for Weiner's model of attributions and emotions. Secondary appraisals and attributions might be more influential in determining affective responses to stressors with a discoverable cause that can be modified in the future to prevent recurrence.