There is some evidence that cognitive behavioral therapy (CBT) in serious illness does work through its impact on coping. Cancer Coping Questionnaire (CCQ) was originally developed to assess coping strategies taught in CBT.

In this work the preliminary study of the psychometric characteristics of CCQ in a sample of breast cancer Portuguese women is described.

We purpose to evaluate psychometric characteristics of CCQ in a Portuguese sample, namely: internal consistency, test-retest reliability and concurrent validity.

The convenience sample included 189 breast cancer patients, who fulfill CCQ and the following measures: Courtauld Emotional Control Scale (CEC); Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS) and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire and the Questionnaire Breast Cancer Module (EORTC QLQC30 and BR-23). CCQ was used in two moments of assessment, the second moment after 2 months of the first.

It was obtained a Cronbach alpha of .80. The test-retest reliability show significant statistical positive correlations (rS = .59, p = .000 for individual sub-scale and rS = 65, p = .000 for interpersonal sub-scale). Significant statistical correlations between CCQ and the other measures used were also obtained.

The validation of the Portuguese CCQ has good psychometric proprieties of internal consistency and test-retest reliability with Portuguese breast cancer women. This instrument also demonstrated to be correlated with other assessment tools used with this population. We conclude that CCQ is a useful and a valid scale for assess the evolution of coping strategies with cancer. Future studies should include other populations.