The predictive validity of positive and negative affectivity in patients with cancer

Introduction: the Clark’s tripartite model of anxiety and depression suggests that Positive Affectivity (PA) might be a specific risk factor for depression, while Negative Affectivity (NA) has been proposed as a non-specific risk factor for both anxiety and depression. The objective of this study was to explore the relationship between affectivity and psychological distress in a sample of patients with cancer and following a longitudinal design. Method: 79 patients with cancer (87.3% females; Mean age = 49.9 years, SD=10, range=23 - 68 years) participated in the study. Patients completed the Positive and Negative Affective Schedule (PANAS), the Hospital-Anxiety-Depression-Scale (HADS), and the Beck Depression Inventory (BDI) at Time 1 (T1) and at Time 2 (T2), 4 months later. Results: results from hierarchical regression analyses – controlling for socio-demographic, clinical, and dependent variables measured at T1 – showed that PA significantly predicted depression at T2, as measured by the HADS, while it failed to predict both anxiety and BDI scores at T2. NA did predict BDI scores at T2, while it failed to predict both anxiety and depression, as measured by the HADS, at T2. Conclusions: findings in this study did only partially support the Clark’s model. They support a specific risk factor for cognitive and affective symptoms of depression. NA arose as a specific risk factor for depression, in particular for anhedonic symptoms. Hence, both PA and NA seem to be specific risk factors, even though for different aspects, of depression.