Impact of caregivers’ negative response to cancer on long-term survivors’ quality of life

Cancer survivors’ quality of life (QoL) is consistently shown to be positively impacted by social support from family and friends, including informal caregivers. In contrast, a loved one’s negative response to cancer can diminish survivors’ QoL, and these negative responses can be more impactful tha...

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Published in:Supportive care in cancer Vol. 29; no. 2; pp. 679 - 686
Main Authors: Best, Alicia L., Shukla, Rujuta, Adamu, Abdullahi Musa, Martinez Tyson, Dinorah, Stein, Kevin D., Alcaraz, Kassandra I.
Format: Journal Article
Language:English
Published: Berlin/Heidelberg Springer Berlin Heidelberg 01.02.2021
Springer
Springer Nature B.V
Subjects:
Adult
Aged
Cancer
Cancer Survivors - psychology
Caregivers
Caregivers - psychology
Female
Generalized linear models
Health status
Humans
Linear analysis
Long term survivor
Male
Medical diagnosis
Medicine
Medicine & Public Health
Mental health
Middle Aged
Neoplasms - psychology
Nursing
Nursing Research
Oncology
Oncology, Experimental
Original Article
Pain Medicine
Perceived social support
Quality of life
Quality of Life - psychology
Rehabilitation Medicine
Social aspects
Social networks
Social response
Social Support
Survivor
Cancer survivors
Caregivers
Negative response to cancer
Social support
Quality of life
ISSN:0941-4355, 1433-7339, 1433-7339
Online Access:Get full text
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Summary:Cancer survivors’ quality of life (QoL) is consistently shown to be positively impacted by social support from family and friends, including informal caregivers. In contrast, a loved one’s negative response to cancer can diminish survivors’ QoL, and these negative responses can be more impactful than supportive behaviors. Nonetheless, negative caregiver response has not been extensively researched, and few studies have explored the potential interaction of negative caregiver response and perceived social support on survivors’ QoL. Therefore, we examined direct effects of perceived negative caregiver response, and the potential moderating role of social support, on QoL in a population-based sample of cancer survivors ( N  = 7543) using generalized linear models. Findings indicate that survivors who rated their caregiver’s response to their cancer diagnosis more negatively reported worse physical and mental health, even up to 10 years after their initial cancer diagnosis. Perceived social support was not significantly associated with physical health, but it was positively associated with mental health. However, social support was not shown to moderate the relationship between negative caregiver response and mental health. Findings suggest that positive support from others within a survivor’s social network may not be enough to attenuate the negative effects of their primary caregiver’s unsupportive behaviors. Accordingly, cancer survivorship research and practice must consider the critical role that negative caregiver responses have on survivors’ QoL and develop strategies that focus on the survivor–caregiver dynamic.
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ISSN:0941-4355
1433-7339
1433-7339
DOI:10.1007/s00520-020-05509-7