Abstract
Context: Among adolescents and young adults (AYAs), cancer and its treatment can disturb body image in distinct ways compared to younger or older individuals. Objective: Since AYA body image is not well understood, this study was designed to develop a conceptual framework for body image in AYAs with cancer. Methods: Concept elicitation interviews were conducted with 36 AYA patients [10 adolescents (15–17 years), 12 emerging adults (18–25 years), 14 young adults (26–39 years)] and health care providers (n = 36). The constant comparative method was used to analyze for themes and properties, with themes considered saturated if they were present and salient across participant sets. Results: Twenty themes emerged from participant data. Three themes illustrate a shared understanding of patients' experience of body image: (1) physical changes produce shifts in identity and experience of self; (2) precancer body image shapes how the AYA experiences cancer-related physical changes, and (3) changes to the body are upsetting. Nine themes were unique to patients while eight themes were unique to providers. Patient body image experiences were found to evolve over time, largely affected by concerns about how others view them. Providers appeared attuned to AYA patient body image but recognized that it is not systematically addressed with patients. Conclusion: More striking than differences between patient groups is the consistency of themes that emerged. The conceptual framework of body image developed from these data offers an important step toward addressing body image concerns for AYA patients.
| Original language | English (US) |
|---|---|
| Pages (from-to) | 614-622 |
| Number of pages | 9 |
| Journal | Psycho-oncology |
| Volume | 30 |
| Issue number | 4 |
| DOIs | |
| State | Published - Apr 2021 |
Funding
The authors would like to thank the adolescents and young adult survivors and healthcare providers who generously devoted their time to teach us about body image considerations. And to acknowledge the research team from the Qualitative and Patient Reported Outcomes Shared Resource of the Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center for their dedicated work on this project. Research reported in this publication was supported by the National Cancer Institute of the National Institutes of Health under award number R01CA218398. This research was also supported in part by the Qualitative and Patient‐Reported Outcomes Shared Resource of the Wake Forest Baptist Comprehensive Cancer Center's NCI Cancer Center Support Grant P30CA012197 and the Wake Forest Clinical and Translational Science Institute's NCATS Grant UL1TR001420.” The content is solely the responsibility of the authors and does not necessarily represent the official views of the National Institutes of Health.
Keywords
- PROMIS
- adolescent
- body image
- cancer
- health personnel
- neoplasms
- oncology
- psycho-oncology
- young adult
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Psychiatry and Mental health
- Oncology
