A Contextual Approach to Treatment Decision Making Among Breast Cancer Survivors

This article presents a contextual model of adjustment to cancer that frames research inquiry on treatment decision making among long-term breast cancer survivors. Psychosocial adaptation, of which treatment decision making is a part, is viewed within a social ecological framework ( T. A. Revenson, 1990 , T. A. Revenson, 2003 ) that encompasses 4 contexts: the situational context, the interpersonal context, the sociocultural context, and the temporal context. Examples of how each context may influence decision-making processes are described, and guidelines for future research are provided.