Dispositional Cancer Worry

Dispositional Cancer Worry (DCW)

DCW has two underlying dimensions: severity and frequency.

DCW – Severity

  1. I am afraid of the physical consequences of getting cancer.
  2. I worry about my health because of my chances of getting cancer.
  3. I feel anxiety when I think of the possible consequences of getting cancer.
  4. I brood about the physical consequences of getting cancer.

DCW – Frequency

  1. I have trouble falling asleep or staying asleep, because of pictures or thoughts about cancer that came to mind.
  2. Pictures about cancer have popped into my mind.
  3. I have dreams about cancer.
  4. I have waves of strong feeling about cancer.

For both severity and frequency we now recommend using a 7 point scale with “not at all” on one end and “very much” on the other.

Not at all ____   _____  ____   ____  ____   ____ ____ very much

Citation:

Jensen, J. D., Bernat, J. K., Davis, L. A., & Yale, R. (2010). Dispositional cancer worry: Convergent, divergent, and predictive validity of existing scales. Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, 28, 470-489.