Adolescents' needs for information and psychosocial support during their mother's breast cancer trajectory: A systematic review

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Abstract

Objective: Breast cancer is the most common cancer diagnosis among women. The acute crisis and uncertainty that often follow diagnosis put the family at risk of exhaustion and dysfunction. Adolescents have been identified as a particularly vulnerable group of relatives. To investigate how to prevent distress in this group, we systematically reviewed research on adolescents' (11–21 years) needs for information and psycho-social support during their mothers' breast cancer trajectory. Method: Systematic searches were conducted in five bibliometric databases. Peer-reviewed, original research of adolescents aged 11–21 with a mother diagnosed with breast cancer was included. Two researchers conducted screening, quality assessment, and data extraction independently. Thematic synthesis was applied to the included studies. Results: A total of 8066 studies were screened, and five quantitative and six qualitative studies were included. The results indicated that adolescents' information and psycho-social support needs were poorly met. Many were reluctant to share feelings with family and peers and experienced abandonment during the crisis. Adolescents who were not well informed experienced distress. Poor family functioning increased the level of adolescents' distress. Conclusions: Despite limitations regarding heterogeneity among the studies, eligibility criteria, and quality assessment, this review provides clear clinical implications. Encounter groups may support adolescents during their mother's breast cancer trajectory. Furthermore, healthcare professionals could provide more indirect support to adolescents by providing support and clearer guidelines to parents. Finally, adolescents from poor-functioning families need extra attention.

OriginalsprogEngelsk
TidsskriftPsycho-Oncology
Vol/bind32
Udgave nummer8
Sider (fra-til)1163-1172
ISSN1057-9249
DOI
StatusUdgivet - aug. 2023

Bibliografisk note

Funding Information:
The authors thank research librarian Lasse Østengaard for providing feedback on the search algorithm, and research assistant Sophie M. Petersen for backward citation searching of the included studies. The review is part of a Ph.D. project funded by the Danish Cancer Society (grant number R210‐A12919‐18‐S64). The funding sources had no influence on the design and conduct of the study or on the collection, management, analysis, and interpretation of the data.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2023 The Authors. Psycho-Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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