Internet Breast Health Information Use and Coping among Women with Breast Cancer

The objective of this work was to study, among breast cancer patients, if Internet health information use is associated with coping. Questionnaires were completed (n = 178) regarding Internet use and also coping as measured by the Brief Cope. MANOVA analyses were conducted for the 14 coping subscales. Following a significant MANOVA omnibus test, univariate ANOVA and multivariate ANCOVA analyses adjusting for covariates were performed. Univariate ANOVA showed acceptance, active coping, self-blame, and denial coping associated with Internet use but these results were not maintained in the multivariate ANCOVA models. Internet health information use is not associated with psychological coping in breast cancer patients.