Flinders Centre for Innovation in Cancer, College of Medicine and Public Health, Flinders University, Sturt Road, Bedford Park, SA, 5042, Australia.
Olivia Newton-John Cancer Wellness and Research Centre, 145 Studley Road, Heidelberg, VIC, 3084, Australia.
Int J Behav Med. 2019 Oct;26(5):531-541. doi: 10.1007/s12529-019-09793-4.
Individuals construct beliefs about an illness based on their own perceptions, interpretation, and understanding of the illness and its treatment. These beliefs (collectively referred to as "illness cognitions" or "representations") can have implications for psychological outcomes in family members and carers of an individual with an illness. The aim of this study was to explore young people's perceptions of their parent's cancer using the Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation as a theoretical framework.
Semi-structured, one-on-one interviews were conducted with young people who had a parent diagnosed with cancer. Interview transcripts were analysed using deductive thematic analysis techniques.
Eleven young people aged 15-24 years participated in the study. Major themes aligned with the dimensions of the Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation. Young people described their experiences with parental cancer with reference to cognitive representations (beliefs about the illness identity, their understanding or coherence of the illness, and consequences, curability or controllability, timeline, and cause of the illness) and emotional representations (emotional beliefs and subjective feelings about the illness).
Findings indicate that young people's perceptions of their parent's cancer can be usefully described within the framework of the Common-Sense Model of Self-Regulation. Future research should investigate the relationships between young people's illness cognitions, coping strategies, and psychological adjustment following their parent's cancer diagnosis. This will provide valuable insights for the development of interventions that target specific types of illness cognitions associated with maladaptive coping strategies and poor adjustment.
个体基于对疾病及其治疗的自身感知、解释和理解，构建对疾病的信念。这些信念（统称为“疾病认知”或“表象”）可能会对患病个体的家庭成员和照顾者的心理结果产生影响。本研究旨在以自我调节的常识模型为理论框架，探讨年轻人对其父母癌症的看法。
对 15-24 岁的父母患有癌症的年轻人进行了半结构化的一对一访谈。使用演绎主题分析技术对访谈记录进行了分析。
11 名 15-24 岁的年轻人参加了研究。主要主题与自我调节的常识模型的维度一致。年轻人通过参考认知表象（对疾病身份的信念、对疾病的理解或一致性、后果、可治愈性或可控制性、时间线和疾病的原因）和情绪表象（情绪信念和对疾病的主观感受）来描述他们的父母癌症经历。
研究结果表明，年轻人对其父母癌症的看法可以用自我调节的常识模型框架来很好地描述。未来的研究应该调查年轻人的疾病认知、应对策略与父母癌症诊断后心理适应之间的关系。这将为开发针对与适应不良的应对策略和较差的适应相关的特定类型疾病认知的干预措施提供有价值的见解。
