Journal
JOURNAL OF BEHAVIORAL MEDICINE
Volume 41, Issue 2, Pages 243-252Publisher
SPRINGER/PLENUM PUBLISHERS
DOI: 10.1007/s10865-017-9892-5
Keywords
Cancer; Neoplasm; Symptoms; Social constraints; Loneliness
Categories
Funding
- American Psychological Association
- National Cancer Institute [R25CA117865, K05CA175048, K07CA168883]
- American Cancer Society [130526-PF-17-054-01-PCSM]
Ask authors/readers for more resources
Cancer patients have high rates of persistent and disabling symptoms. Evidence suggests that social constraints (e.g., avoidance and criticism) negatively impact symptoms, but pathways linking these variables have yet to be identified. This study examined whether cancer-related loneliness (i.e., feeling socially disconnected related to having cancer) mediated the relationships between social constraints and symptoms (i.e., pain interference, fatigue, sleep disturbance, and cognitive complaints) in patients with various cancers (N = 182). Patients (51% female, mean age = 59) were recruited from the Indiana Cancer Registry and completed questionnaires assessing social constraints, cancer-related loneliness, and symptoms. Structural equation modeling was used to evaluate the hypothesized relationships among variables. The model demonstrated good fit. Consistent with our hypothesis, cancer-related loneliness mediated the relationships between social constraints and each symptom. Findings suggest that addressing cancer-related loneliness in symptom management interventions may mitigate the negative impact of social constraints on outcomes.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available