Cultural values as a resilience resource for Latino/a adolescents and young adults coping with parental cancer

Abstract

Purpose: Although research on how adolescents and young adults (AYAs) cope with their own cancer is expanding, there is little knowledge on how AYAs cope with a parent’s cancer. And, thus, little evidence-based knowledge for how to deliver services. Moreover, most research has been with majority White populations. To fill this gap, we examined whether the cultural values of familismo (familism) and espíritu (spirit) moderate the association between stress appraisals and coping with psychological distress among Latino/AYAs facing a parent’s cancer.

Design: Cross-sectional, observational.

Sample: Thirty eight adolescents and young adults between the ages of 12 and 25 whose mother had breast cancer.

Methods: Participants completed standardized measures. Generalized estimating equation analysis was used to analyze the nested data.

Results: There was a protective pattern of familismo and espíritu against symptoms of depression. AYAs experienced psychological distress, but those with higher levels of familismo and espíritu fared better than those with lower levels, regardless of the coping strategies they used.

Implications: Psychosocial interventions for Latino/a AYAs coping with parental cancer should incorporate or strengthen these values.

Keywords:

• coping
• espíritu
• familismo
• Latino/as
• parental cancer
• stress

Acknowledgments

This study is part of the first author’s dissertation, supervised by the second author. We thank Ana F. Abraído-Lanza, PhD, Michael A. Hoyt, PhD, and Tyrel Starks, PhD, as members of the dissertation committee for their contributions to the research design and analyses. We especially thank Dora Arias and the participants who made this study possible.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.