Description of the Questionnaire

The Questionnaire of Strategies Directly Related to or Associated with Type C Behaviors was developed to investigate strategies believed to be present in patients with breast cancer. It consists of thirty-eight items formulated as verbal bipolar statements, divided into an eleven-point scale. The respondent indicates the extent to which they adopt or do not adopt the corresponding strategy.

Analysis and Use of Data

The questionnaire examines ten strategies directly related to characteristics of Type C behaviors, such as not expressing anger, suppressing other unpleasant emotions such as sadness or anger, seeking social approval, avoiding conflicts, hindering personal needs for the sake of others, adopting a reassuring stance, showing submissive behavior, being conciliatory, displaying passivity, and being cooperative. These strategies cover twenty-four verbal bipolar statements. In addition, it examines four strategies considered to be associated with Type C behaviors, such as not expressing anger toward those who provoked it but only toward other people, expressing complaints safely only to individuals who do not disturb the respondent, expressing dissatisfaction toward third parties, and exhibiting resignation behaviors. These strategies include seven verbal bipolar statements.

Purpose

The purpose of the questionnaire is, on the one hand, to examine strategies directly related to Type C behaviors and, on the other hand, to examine four additional strategies that are associated with them.

Calibration

Assessment is carried out using an eleven-point scale for each item. In total, the questionnaire includes thirty-eight verbal bipolar statements, of which thirty-one concern the main strategies and seven the associated strategies. The total score is obtained by summing the values for the individual items in each strategy category.

Bibliography

Trikkas, P. (1997). Stressful life events, behavior, and cancer development. Doctoral dissertation, University of Crete, Heraklion.