Traumatic symptomatology and cognitive functioning in women with breast cancer treated with chemotherapy: An exploratory study

Objective: The purpose of this study was to explore the associations between traumatic symptomatology and impairments on cognitive functioning, in a sample of women with breast cancer, in treatment with chemotherapy. Methods: Participants were 20 women diagnosed with breast cancer (Mage = 48.40; SD = 8.98). In this exploratory cross-sectional study, a battery of neuropsychological tests was used to evaluate the participants' cognitive functioning, as well as a measure for traumatic symptomatology. Results: The results showed that 35% of the participants experienced traumatic symptomatology at clinically significant levels (cut-off > 35.5). Furthermore, significant correlations (p < .05) were found between traumatic symptomatology and executive functioning, particularly cognitive flexibility. Conclusion: Although exploratory in nature, our findings highlight the need to screen for traumatic symptomatology in breast cancer patients, regardless of treatments for oncological disease, and the need to develop interventions targeting these traumatic symptoms in order to prevent the development of cognitive deficits. during tasks that involve cognitive and motivation control processing.