Abstract

The diagnosis of cancer not only concerns the patient but also involves their caregivers on a cognitive-emotional and affective levels. Our study explores personality, coping, stress, burden, and their relationship in 26 participants, including 13 patient-caregiver dyads. The tools used included: Big Five Questionnaire 2 (BFQ-2), Digit Ratio (2D:4D), Profile of Mood States (POMS), Coping Orientations to Problem Experienced (COPE), Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) and Caregiver Burden Inventory (CBI). Results show significant correlations between mood of caregiver and personality of patient, caregiver impulsiveness and patient prosocial behavior, and caregiver energy and patient coping strategies. These results confirm reciprocal influences between patients and caregivers for the dimensions investigated and hypothesize that it could play a possible role in the outcome of oncology disease treatment.