Anxiety and depression among cancer survivors: the role of engagement with sources of emotional support information
Open accessAbstract
This study explores cancer survivors' engagement with information about emotional support from doctors, interpersonal sources, and the media and examines to what extent such engagement affects subsequent self-reported anxiety and depression. Patients with colorectal, breast, or prostate cancer (n = 1,128) were surveyed over 3 years following diagnosis. Using lagged logistic regression, we predicted the odds of experiencing anxiety or depression based on earlier engagement with sources of emotional support, adjusting for prior symptoms and confounders. Among those reporting anxiety or depression (n = 476), we also asked whether information engagement affected the severity of those symptoms. Participants obtained information about emotional support from multiple sources, but most often from physicians. Discussions with physicians about emotional support increased the odds of cancer survivors subsequently reporting anxiety or depression by 1.58 times (95% CI: 1.06 to 2.35; p = 0.025), adjusted for prior symptoms and confounders. Scanning from media sources was also significantly associated with increased odds of reporting emotional symptoms (OR=1.72; 95% CI: 1.03 to 2.87; p = 0.039). However, among those who reported symptoms, doctor-patient engagement predicted slightly reduced interference of these symptoms with daily activities (B = -0.198; 95% CI: -0.393 to -0.003; p = 0.047). Important implications for health communication research and practice are discussed.
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The results reflect previous findings that emotional support is related to distress in cancer patients.
“Indeed, our results reflect previous findings of the emotional support being related to distress in cancer patients (19).”
From Coping in Patients With Incurable Lung and Gastrointestinal Cancers: A Validation Study of the Brief COPE (2017) · cites this paper as [19]
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- Authors
- Mello, S., Tan, A. S. L., Armstrong, K., Sanford Schwartz, J., & Hornik, R. C.
- Affiliations
- University of Pennsylvania (US)
- Corresponding author
- Mello, Susan
- Venue
- Health Communication
- Publisher
- Informa UK Limited
- Published
- 2013-05
- Volume
- 28
- Issue
- 4
- Pages
- 389-396
- ISSN
- 1041-0236 (ISSN-L)
- 1532-7027
- PMC
- PMC4195239
- OpenAlex
- W2170548462
- Cited by
- 31
- References
- 39
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 4 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1 · 2017: 3 · 2016: 6 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 3 · 2013: 3 · 2012: 1
- FWCI
- 1.42
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- green
- www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov
- Locations
- Health Communication (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (acceptedVersion)
- PubMed Central (acceptedVersion)
- Funders
- National Cancer Institute (P20CA095856)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Health Literacy and Information Accessibility
- Health Sciences › Health Professions › General Health Professions › Patient-Provider Communication in Healthcare
- Keywords
- cancer survivors, anxiety, depression, emotional support, physician-patient communication, interpersonal support, colorectal cancer, breast cancer, prostate cancer
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Anxiety, Breast Neoplasms, Communication, Depression, Female, Humans, Male, Mental Health, Neoplasm Staging, Neoplasms, Prostatic Neoplasms, Socioeconomic Factors, Colorectal Neoplasms, Prevalence, Survivors, Consumer Health Information, Information Seeking Behavior
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