Abstract
Objective: The long-term psychosocial impact of adult daughters caring for their mothers with breast cancer has been recognized but understudied. The objectives of this study were to characterize the psychosocial functioning of women who served as informal caregivers during their mothers. treatment for breast cancer in two distinct samples, community and high risk clinic, and to determine differences in psychosocial functioning between the two samples. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, a sample of mostly married, Caucasian and college educated women (N=59) were administered a battery of questionnaires assessing socio-demographic and psychosocial factors (i.e. coping, caregiving tasks and difficulty, social support, spirituality, mental distress, depressive symptoms). Results: Using descriptive analysis, chi-square and T tests, results demonstrated significant differences between the two samples in time since caregiving, with the community sample reporting few years since the caregiving episode (e.g. 2.1 versus 15.1 years); coping strategies, with the clinic sample reporting higher scores on active coping, behavioral disengagement, planning, and self-blame; support type care tasks difficulty, with the clinic sample reporting higher scores on emotional support and tangible support, and all domains of spirituality (e.g. peace, meaning, faith), with higher levels being reported by the community sample. Although participants did not exhibit clinically significant levels of emotional distress, almost 25% of the community sample and 10% of the clinic sample had clinically significant depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Findings underscore the need for interventions tailored for caregivers to consider the unique psychosocial characteristics of caregivers across settings.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 561-575 |
| Number of pages | 15 |
| Journal | Journal of Psychosocial Oncology |
| Volume | 33 |
| Issue number | 5 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Sep 3 2015 |
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Keywords
- breast cancer
- caregiving
- daughters
- psychosocial
- quality of life
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Applied Psychology
- Oncology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Medicine(all)
Cite this
Psychosocial characteristics of adult daughters of breast cancer patients : Comparison of clinic and community caregivers samples. / Sumner, Lekeisha A.; Wellisch, David K.; Kim, Youngmee; Spillers, Rachel L.
In: Journal of Psychosocial Oncology, Vol. 33, No. 5, 03.09.2015, p. 561-575.Research output: Contribution to journal › Article
}
TY - JOUR
T1 - Psychosocial characteristics of adult daughters of breast cancer patients
T2 - Comparison of clinic and community caregivers samples
AU - Sumner, Lekeisha A.
AU - Wellisch, David K.
AU - Kim, Youngmee
AU - Spillers, Rachel L.
PY - 2015/9/3
Y1 - 2015/9/3
N2 - Objective: The long-term psychosocial impact of adult daughters caring for their mothers with breast cancer has been recognized but understudied. The objectives of this study were to characterize the psychosocial functioning of women who served as informal caregivers during their mothers. treatment for breast cancer in two distinct samples, community and high risk clinic, and to determine differences in psychosocial functioning between the two samples. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, a sample of mostly married, Caucasian and college educated women (N=59) were administered a battery of questionnaires assessing socio-demographic and psychosocial factors (i.e. coping, caregiving tasks and difficulty, social support, spirituality, mental distress, depressive symptoms). Results: Using descriptive analysis, chi-square and T tests, results demonstrated significant differences between the two samples in time since caregiving, with the community sample reporting few years since the caregiving episode (e.g. 2.1 versus 15.1 years); coping strategies, with the clinic sample reporting higher scores on active coping, behavioral disengagement, planning, and self-blame; support type care tasks difficulty, with the clinic sample reporting higher scores on emotional support and tangible support, and all domains of spirituality (e.g. peace, meaning, faith), with higher levels being reported by the community sample. Although participants did not exhibit clinically significant levels of emotional distress, almost 25% of the community sample and 10% of the clinic sample had clinically significant depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Findings underscore the need for interventions tailored for caregivers to consider the unique psychosocial characteristics of caregivers across settings.
AB - Objective: The long-term psychosocial impact of adult daughters caring for their mothers with breast cancer has been recognized but understudied. The objectives of this study were to characterize the psychosocial functioning of women who served as informal caregivers during their mothers. treatment for breast cancer in two distinct samples, community and high risk clinic, and to determine differences in psychosocial functioning between the two samples. Methods: Using a cross-sectional design, a sample of mostly married, Caucasian and college educated women (N=59) were administered a battery of questionnaires assessing socio-demographic and psychosocial factors (i.e. coping, caregiving tasks and difficulty, social support, spirituality, mental distress, depressive symptoms). Results: Using descriptive analysis, chi-square and T tests, results demonstrated significant differences between the two samples in time since caregiving, with the community sample reporting few years since the caregiving episode (e.g. 2.1 versus 15.1 years); coping strategies, with the clinic sample reporting higher scores on active coping, behavioral disengagement, planning, and self-blame; support type care tasks difficulty, with the clinic sample reporting higher scores on emotional support and tangible support, and all domains of spirituality (e.g. peace, meaning, faith), with higher levels being reported by the community sample. Although participants did not exhibit clinically significant levels of emotional distress, almost 25% of the community sample and 10% of the clinic sample had clinically significant depressive symptoms. Conclusions: Findings underscore the need for interventions tailored for caregivers to consider the unique psychosocial characteristics of caregivers across settings.
KW - breast cancer
KW - caregiving
KW - daughters
KW - psychosocial
KW - quality of life
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84942119407&partnerID=8YFLogxK
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=84942119407&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1080/07347332.2015.1067281
DO - 10.1080/07347332.2015.1067281
M3 - Article
C2 - 26176356
AN - SCOPUS:84942119407
VL - 33
SP - 561
EP - 575
JO - Journal of Psychosocial Oncology
JF - Journal of Psychosocial Oncology
SN - 0734-7332
IS - 5
ER -