Comparison of anger management, anxiety and perceived stress in patients with cancer and Coronary Heart Disease (CHD)

The present study was conducted with the aim of studying the comparison of anger management, anxiety and perceived stress in patients with cancer and Coronary Heart Disease (CHD). The two groups of subjects consisted of patients with cancer (n = 120) and patients with CHD (n = 118) who were selected by using a convenience sampling method and by the employment of Spielberger’s State-Trait Anger Expression, Costello and Camry Depression and Anxiety scale and Perceived Stress Scale of Cohen, Kamarak and Mermelstein. In order to analyze the data, after the calculation of descriptive statistics and correlation coefficients, MONOVA was employed to test the hypotheses. The findings indicated that patients with CHD regulate the excitement by externalizing anger and patients with cancer control this excitement by internalizing anger. Moreover, stress and depression in patients with CHD were greater than in patients with cancer. The findings were explained by the employment of the theoretical patterns of the mediating role of personality and regulation of excitement in stress and illness.