Age-Related Distress Among Young Women with Breast Cancer

Abstract

Evidence suggests that younger women who are diagnosed with breast cancer may be at increased risk for poor psychosocial outcomes. However, only limited work has examined the adaptational challenges these younger women confront. As part of a study examining decision-making about pregnancy after breast cancer, 51 women participated in unstructured interviews. The focus of the present thematic analysis was a group of 34 women who were younger than 36 years (M= 30.6 years). These women spoke of the unique issues associated with being a young woman diagnosed with breast cancer. The predominant stressors they described included (1) coping with the un-timeliness of the diagnosis, (2) concerns about the impact of the illness on their husbands, (3) sadness about lost opportunities for childbearing, (4) a feeling of being different and isolated, (5) uncertainty about their future, and (6) concerns about their children. Evidence of altered belief systems about themselves and the world ran through their narratives concerning the adaptive challenges their illness posed for them.

Key Words:

• Breast cancer
• psychosocial adjustment
• age