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©The Author(s) 2026. Published by Baishideng Publishing Group Inc. All rights reserved.
World J Psychiatry. Feb 19, 2026; 16(2): 113887
Published online Feb 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i2.113887
Published online Feb 19, 2026. doi: 10.5498/wjp.v16.i2.113887
Predictive role of family dysfunction on psychological morbidity in breast cancer patients
Zhi-Juan Li, Xiu-Fen Zhuang, Pan-Pan Yang, Yan Fang, Department of Head and Neck Oncology, Comprehensive Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, Jiangsu Province, China
Liang-Ying Chen, Department of Hematology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, Zhenjiang 212001, Jiangsu Province, China
Co-first authors: Zhi-Juan Li and Liang-Ying Chen.
Author contributions: Li ZJ and Chen LY contributed equally to this work as co-first authors. Li ZJ was responsible for study design, data collection, statistical analysis, manuscript drafting, and revision; Chen LY contributed to patient recruitment, psychological assessments, data interpretation, and critical manuscript revision; Zhuang XF participated in family functioning assessments, data management, and literature review; Yang PP assisted with data analysis, figure preparation, and reference management; Fang Y conceived the study, supervised the research process, provided critical intellectual input, and approved the final manuscript. All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript and agree to be accountable for all aspects of the work.
Institutional review board statement: This study was approved by the Scientific Research Ethics Committee of the Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University (Approval No. KY2025H0923-03). All procedures complied with the Declaration of Helsinki.
Informed consent statement: Written informed consent was waived due to the retrospective design.
Conflict-of-interest statement: All the authors report no relevant conflicts of interest for this article.
STROBE statement: The authors have read the STROBE Statement-checklist of items, and the manuscript was prepared and revised according to the STROBE Statement-checklist of items.
Data sharing statement: De-identified data and analysis code are available from the corresponding author upon reasonable request and subject to institutional approvals.
Open Access: This article is an open-access article that was selected by an in-house editor and fully peer-reviewed by external reviewers. It is distributed in accordance with the Creative Commons Attribution NonCommercial (CC BY-NC 4.0) license, which permits others to distribute, remix, adapt, build upon this work non-commercially, and license their derivative works on different terms, provided the original work is properly cited and the use is non-commercial. See: https://creativecommons.org/Licenses/by-nc/4.0/
Corresponding author: Yan Fang, Department of Head and Neck Oncology, Comprehensive Oncology, Affiliated Hospital of Jiangsu University, No. 438 Jiefang Road, Zhenjiang 212001, Jiangsu Province, China. fangy813@163.com
Received: September 28, 2025
Revised: October 29, 2025
Accepted: December 11, 2025
Published online: February 19, 2026
Processing time: 123 Days and 22.3 Hours
Revised: October 29, 2025
Accepted: December 11, 2025
Published online: February 19, 2026
Processing time: 123 Days and 22.3 Hours
Core Tip
Core Tip: This study demonstrates that family dysfunction, particularly communication problems, is a strong independent predictor of psychological morbidity in breast cancer patients. Using the Family Assessment Device and the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale, we developed and validated a clinical risk prediction model with good accuracy. Early identification of family dysfunction allows timely psychological support and family-centered interventions, which may improve mental health outcomes and treatment adherence in breast cancer care.