TY - JOUR
T1 - Coping with breast cancer together
T2 - Challenging topics for mothers and their adolescent-young adult (AYA) daughters
AU - Fisher, Carla L.
AU - Kastrinos, Amanda
AU - Piemonte, Nicole
AU - Canzona, Mollie R.
AU - Wolf, Bianca
AU - Pipe, Teri
N1 - Funding Information:
This work was supported by the Mayo Clinic/Arizona State University (MCA) Partnership for Collaborative Research (PARCORE) Grant.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Taylor & Francis Group, LLC.
PY - 2022
Y1 - 2022
N2 - Background. The mother-daughter relationship can be central to women who are coping with breast cancer and provide a key source of support. However, the adolescent and young adult (AYA) daughters of diagnosed mothers have been known to exhibit notable distress during this time, withdrawing and avoiding communication, further challenging their ability to cope together. Objective. We sought to identify challenging topics that contribute to this avoidant mother–daughter communication pattern, as a first step in helping mothers and AYA daughters facilitate health-promoting communication. Methods. We examined thematically analyzed transcripts of one-on-one, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 27 women (12 mother–daughter dyads). Results. We to identified 3 broad topics that were challenging to discuss: daughters’ future breast cancer risk; emotionally related concerns; and clinical and physical aspects of disease. Thematic properties illustrate the challenging nature of each topic that informed their ability to communally cope together. Implications. Findings provide an initial roadmap for developing communication skills interventions that help mothers and AYA daughters navigate challenging conversations and facilitate communal coping.
AB - Background. The mother-daughter relationship can be central to women who are coping with breast cancer and provide a key source of support. However, the adolescent and young adult (AYA) daughters of diagnosed mothers have been known to exhibit notable distress during this time, withdrawing and avoiding communication, further challenging their ability to cope together. Objective. We sought to identify challenging topics that contribute to this avoidant mother–daughter communication pattern, as a first step in helping mothers and AYA daughters facilitate health-promoting communication. Methods. We examined thematically analyzed transcripts of one-on-one, in-depth, semi-structured interviews with 27 women (12 mother–daughter dyads). Results. We to identified 3 broad topics that were challenging to discuss: daughters’ future breast cancer risk; emotionally related concerns; and clinical and physical aspects of disease. Thematic properties illustrate the challenging nature of each topic that informed their ability to communally cope together. Implications. Findings provide an initial roadmap for developing communication skills interventions that help mothers and AYA daughters navigate challenging conversations and facilitate communal coping.
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U2 - 10.1080/07347332.2021.2005734
DO - 10.1080/07347332.2021.2005734
M3 - Article
C2 - 34898401
AN - SCOPUS:85121455956
VL - 40
SP - 756
EP - 769
JO - Journal of Psychosocial Oncology
JF - Journal of Psychosocial Oncology
SN - 0734-7332
IS - 6
ER -