The Role of Social Support in Adolescent/Young Adults Coping with Cancer Treatment
Bibliographic Data
Adolescents/young-adult (AYA) cancer patients are a psychosocially at-risk group as they are often less well-studied than other age cancer cohorts. Therefore, they experience disparities in access to developmentally informed treatment. Social support has been determined as an important aspect of AYAs' cancer experience, but additional research was needed to describe specific behaviors AYAs found helpful and to explore how AYAs seek opportunities for additional support. As part of a larger qualitative study, study aims were to determine how AYAs (ages 15-26) cope during cancer treatment and examine how social support interacts with individual AYA coping. Participants included 10 AYA cancer patients undergoing treatment (mean age = 18.9 years) and 10 parents (mean age = 45.6 years). Descriptively, participants scored within the normal to high range on measures of hope, depression/anxiety/stress, quality of life, and social support. Participants completed semi-structured, audio-recorded interviews that were transcribed and coded as generated. Qualitative analysis was guided by principles of grounded theory and utilized the constant comparative approach. Themes within social support groups included presence, distraction, positive attitude, and maintaining AYA autonomy, communication, and advocacy. Results suggest social supports provide additional coping resources for AYAs with cancer through supplementing individual coping strategies. Future directions/implications for intervention/treatment are discussed
Coping (psychology · Developmental psychology · Psychotherapist · Social support · Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life · Clinical Psychology · Family Support in Illness · Optimism, Hope, and Well-being · Psychology
Depression Anxiety Stress Scales
The PedsQLTM in pediatric cancer
The short version of the Depression Anxiety Stress Scales (Dass‐21)
The Depression Anxiety Stress Scales—21 (Dass‐21)
Chronic Illness and the Life Cycle
Validation of modified forms of the PedsQL generic core scales and cancer module scales for adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer or a blood disorder
The Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support
The will and the ways
Development and validation of the State Hope Scale
Qualitative Data Analysis for Health Services Research
Critical Analysis of Strategies for Determining Rigor in Qualitative Inquiry
The Constant Comparative Method of Qualitative Analysis
| Citations per year | 2.5 |
|---|---|
| Citation span | 2024 - 2026 (3) |
| Highly cited | No |