Comorbidity, Functional Impairment, and Emotional Distress: A Coping Mediation Model for Persons With Cancer.

Both comorbidity and functional impairment may be associated with distress, but disengagement coping only mediated the relation involving functional impairment and was positively associated with distress. Future studies can investigate whether teaching active coping or adaptive coping (e.g., through mindfulness exercises) can decrease distress in cancer patients, despite functional impairments.