The purpose of this study was to develop a scale to assess the initial reactions of individuals to the diagnosis of cancer. Content validity was built into the Reaction to the Diagnosis of Cancer Questionnaire (RDCQ) through responses supplied by 340 ambulatory cancer patients to the question, "What do you remember of your feelings when first told you had cancer?" Test-retest reliability was .86 at a 3-week interval. Factor analysis on a convenience sample of 441 ambulatory cancer patients confirmed the existence of two separate and distinct dimensions, confronting reactions and distress reactions, to the initial diagnosis of cancer that explained 61% of the variance. Internal consistency for both the total tool (alpha = .896) and the two subscales of the RDCQ (confronting dimension = .82, distress dimension = .91) was high.
Adaptation, Psychological Adult