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Adopting a survivor identity after cancer in a peer support context

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Abstract

Purpose

The term cancer survivor can refer to individuals from diagnosis through the rest of their life. However, not all people with cancer identify as a survivor, and underlying factors and correlates are yet to be well-explored empirically.

Methods

Study 1 surveyed men in a prostate cancer peer support network (n = 514), exploring psychosocial variables related to adopting a survivor identity. Study 2 interviewed 160 women with breast cancer in an online support group and collected observational data, assessing how survivor identity relates to perceptions of and participation in online support groups.

Results

For men, survivor identity (35 %) was related to lower levels of threat appraisal (p = .000), more deliberate rumination (p = .042), gaining greater understanding of cancer experience through peers (p = .041) and a higher, though marginally significant, level of posttraumatic growth (p = .052). Women adopting a survivor identity (50 %) had higher rates of online support group posts (p = .048), a greater feeling of mattering to the group (p = .002), rated the group as more helpful (p = .004 to .01) and had less difficulty in relating to the group (p = .002) than women not identifying as a survivor.

Conclusions

Survivor identity was related to active and positive engagement with peers, and cognitive processing.

Implications for cancer survivors

While the cancer survivor metaphor may be salient for some people diagnosed with cancer, many did not associate with the term, highlighting the complexity surrounding survivorship discourse and the need to be sensitive to unique individual needs in psychosocial interventions that involve groups.

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Acknowledgement

The authors wish to thank the Brisbane Prostate Support Network, the Prostate Cancer Foundation of Australia, Cancer Council Queensland and the National Cancer Institute of the National Institute of Health (Grant CA15887) for their support and assistance in this project. Prof. Suzanne Chambers is supported by an Australian Research Council Future Fellowship.

Conflict of interest

The authors wish to state that they have no conflicts of interest to declare in regards to this submission to the Journal of Cancer Survivorship.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Griffith Health Institute, Griffith University, Building G05 2.44, Brisbane, QLD, 4222, Australia

    Bronwyn A. Morris, Bridget Wilson & Suzanne K. Chambers

  2. Cancer Council Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Bronwyn A. Morris, Bridget Wilson, Jeff Dunn & Suzanne K. Chambers

  3. Department of Public Health, Temple University, Philadelphia, USA

    Stephen J. Lepore

  4. Department of Psychiatry, University of California, San Francisco, USA

    Morton A. Lieberman

  5. School of Social Science, University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Jeff Dunn

  6. School of Public Health, Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia

    Jeff Dunn

  7. Prostate Cancer Foundation Australia, Sydney, Australia

    Suzanne K. Chambers

  8. Health & Wellness Institute, Edith Cowan University, Perth, Australia

    Suzanne K. Chambers

  9. Centre for Clinical Research University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia

    Suzanne K. Chambers

Authors
  1. Bronwyn A. Morris
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  2. Stephen J. Lepore
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  3. Bridget Wilson
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  4. Morton A. Lieberman
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  5. Jeff Dunn
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  6. Suzanne K. Chambers
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Bronwyn A. Morris.

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Morris, B.A., Lepore, S.J., Wilson, B. et al. Adopting a survivor identity after cancer in a peer support context. J Cancer Surviv 8, 427–436 (2014). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-014-0355-5

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-014-0355-5

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