Narrating the nadir: examining personal and vicarious stories of cancer-related low points among survivors and romantic partners

Abstract

Objective: To investigate low point autobiographical narratives among cancer survivors and romantic partners.

Design: Cancer survivors (Study 1) and romantic partners (Study 2) narrated the low points of their cancer experiences. Partners also narrated stories of cancer survivors’ low points. Narratives were coded for their manifest content, as well as redemption (negative-to-positive arc), contamination (positive-to-negative arc), and tone (positive or negative valence).

Main Outcome Measures: Self-reported measures of health and well-being (life satisfaction, cancer-related worry, impact of cancer).

Results: The diagnosis moment was the most frequently recognised low point among survivors and partners. Survivors who narrated contaminated low points reported marginally less somatisation, salience of cancer recurrence, and that cancer had a marginally less positive impact, relative to survivors whose narratives did not contain contamination. Tone in partners’ low points predicted marginally less worry and more somatisation. The tone of their vicarious low points negatively correlated with anxiety.

Conclusion: This research contributes to the growing body of work examining, and giving voice to, the experiences of cancer survivors and those close to them. As such, it informs applied health researchers of potentially challenging cancer-related experiences, and the way(s) in which the storying of these experiences align with psychological flourishing.

Keywords:

• Narrative identity
• cancer survivorship
• vicarious life stories

Note

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the authors.

Notes

1 We also explored whether characteristics of the diagnosis (e.g., stage, time since diagnosis, and duration of treatment) moderated associations between affective features and adjustment and found no significant moderating effects.