The shared experience of adolescent and young adult cancer patients and their caregivers.

ABSTRACT:

Objective

We examined the interdependent, dyadic, mental health of adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer patients and their caregivers. Our aims were as follows: (1) to investigate the degree to which patients' and caregivers' subjective perceptions of illness severity are congruent with objective severity (i.e., medical indicators), (2) to compare patients' and caregivers' subjective perceptions of illness severity and cancer-related posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), and (3) to evaluate whether subjective perceptions of illness severity are linked to patients' and caregivers' cancer-related PTSS.

Methods

The AYA cancer patients (n = 110; ages 12-24 years; 52% male) undergoing active treatment at an outpatient clinic and their caregivers (n = 110; 97% parents; ages 24-

SUBMITTER: Juth V 

PROVIDER: S-EPMC4688241 | biostudies-literature | 2015 Dec

REPOSITORIES: biostudies-literature