Rao Pooja, Segel Joel E, Bingen Kristin, Devine Katie A, Scott Allison M, Koehly Laura M, Verdery Ashton M, Rumbaugh Courtney L, Wasserman Emily, Costigan Heather J, Dandekar Smita, Rakszawski Kevin, Songdej Natthapol, Blackall George F, Vasekar Monali, Naik Seema, Lengerich Eugene J, Van Scoy Lauren J
Penn State Health Children's Hospital, USA.
The Pennsylvania State University, USA.
J Health Psychol. 2025 Jan 31:13591053241311977. doi: 10.1177/13591053241311977.
Adolescent/young adult cancer survivors (AYACS) are diagnosed with cancer between 15 and 39 years of age. Improving AYACS' survivorship quality is crucial-including improving social connectedness, a construct describing the quality, structure and function of social relationships. With better understanding of AYACS' social connectedness, network-based interventions can be developed to foster social health. This study explored how a personal cancer diagnosis impacts AYACS' social connectedness among 35 AYACS 15-25 years old. Three themes emerged through thematic analysis: (1) AYACS experience substantial heterogeneity related to social support needs; (2) AYACS leverage multiple relationships and resources when seeking support after a personal cancer diagnosis; (3) AYACS' individual experiences were unique in that some noted positive changes, whereas others noted negative changes in relationships within social networks, specifically with peers. These findings create a foundation to develop social programming, foster peer relationships, and incorporate social science methods to aid intervention development to strengthen AYACS' social connectedness.
青少年/青年癌症幸存者（AYACS）是指在15至39岁之间被诊断出患有癌症的人群。提高AYACS的生存质量至关重要，这包括改善社会联系，社会联系是一个描述社会关系的质量、结构和功能的概念。随着对AYACS社会联系的更好理解，可以开发基于网络的干预措施来促进社会健康。本研究探讨了个人癌症诊断如何影响35名年龄在15至25岁之间的AYACS的社会联系。通过主题分析出现了三个主题：（1）AYACS在社会支持需求方面存在很大的异质性；（2）AYACS在个人癌症诊断后寻求支持时会利用多种关系和资源；（3）AYACS的个人经历是独特的，因为一些人指出了积极的变化，而另一些人则指出社交网络中的关系，特别是与同龄人的关系出现了消极变化。这些发现为制定社会规划、促进同伴关系以及纳入社会科学方法以协助干预措施的制定奠定了基础，从而加强AYACS的社会联系。
