Andrea A. Cohee

Comparison of younger and older breast cancer survivors and age‐matched controls on specific and overall quality of life domains

Younger survivors (YS) of breast cancer often report more survivorship symptoms such as fatigue, depression, sexual difficulty, and cognitive problems than older survivors (OS). This study sought to determine the effect of breast cancer and age at diagnosis on quality of life (QoL) by comparing 3 groups: 1) YS diagnosed at age 45 years or before, 2) OS diagnosed between 55 and 70, and 3) for the YSs, age‐matched controls (AC) of women not diagnosed with breast cancer.

Long-term fear of recurrence in young breast cancer survivors and partners.

Fear of a breast cancer recurrence is the most prevalent and disruptive source of distress for long‐term survivors and their partners. However, few studies have focused on predictors of fear of recurrence. The aim of this study is to test the efficacy of the Social Cognitive Processing Theory (SCPT) in predicting fear of recurrence in long‐term breast cancer survivors diagnosed at age 45 years or younger and their partners.

Relationship between depressive symptoms and social cognitive processing in partners of long-term breast cancer survivors

PURPOSE/OBJECTIVES To determine (a) if depressive symptoms in partners of long-term breast cancer survivors (BCSs) could be predicted by social cognitive processing theory and (b) if partners of younger and older BCSs were differentially affected by the cancer experience.
. DESIGN A cross-sectional, descriptive study using self-report questionnaires.
. SETTING Indiana University in Bloomington and 97 ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group sites in the United States.
. SAMPLE 508 partners of BCSs diagnosed three to eight years prior to the study. 
. METHODS Secondary data mediation analyses were conducted to determine if cognitive processing mediated the relationship between social constraints and depressive symptoms. Age-related differences on all scales were tested.
. MAIN RESEARCH VARIABLES Depressive symptoms; secondary variables included social constraints, cognitive processing (avoidance and intrusive thoughts), and potentially confounding variables.
. FINDINGS Cognitive processing mediated the relationship between social constraints and depressive symptoms for partners. Partners of younger BCSs reported worse outcomes on all measures than partners of older BCSs.
. CONCLUSIONS As predicted by the social cognitive processing theory, cognitive processing mediated the relationship between social constraints and depressive symptoms. In addition, partners of younger BCSs fared worse on social constraints, intrusive thoughts, and depressive symptoms than partners of older BCSs. 
. IMPLICATIONS FOR NURSING Results provide support for using the social cognitive processing theory in an intervention design with partners of long-term BCSs to decrease depressive symptoms.

Quality of life difficulties in partners of young breast cancer survivors.

188 Background: Although breast cancer is more commonly diagnosed in post-menopausal women, there are a significant number of survivors diagnosed at age 45 or younger. Compared to older survivors, younger survivors have significantly more problems with depression sexual functioning, marital satisfaction, and overall well-being, but there is little research on the partners of these younger survivors. The purpose of this study is to determine if the partners of young survivors experience more problems with depression, sexual functioning, marital satisfaction, and overall well-being than partners of age-matched controls. METHODS Survivors and partners (n=227) were enrolled in a large cross-sectional study, executed through the ECOG-ACRIN Cancer Research Group. Eligibility for survivors included being 45 or under at diagnosis, 3 to 8 years from treatment without a breast cancer recurrence, and with similar chemotherapy treatment regimens. Survivors identified age-matched acquaintance controls without breast cancer. These age matched controls and their partners (n=170) were also included. All groups completed a survey assessing demographic characteristics, depression, sexual functioning (enjoyment and difficulty), marital satisfaction, and overall well-being. The partners of both young survivors and acquaintance controls were compared on all study variables adjusting for demographic variables. RESULTS Partners of young survivors reported significantly more depression (effect size [ES] = -0.23, p=.0199), worse sexual functioning as indicated by lower enjoyment (ES= 0.32, p=.0019) and more sexual difficulty (ES= -0.24, p=.0164), lower marital satisfaction (ES=0.24, p=.0189), and lower overall well-being (ES= 0.40, p=.0001). CONCLUSIONS Partners of breast cancer survivors suffer from problems similar to breast cancer survivors. Further research is needed to fully understand the impact of a breast cancer diagnosis on both the partner as well as the survivor, especially when problems exist that are related to the dyadic relationship.