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Associations among physical symptoms, fear of cancer recurrence, and emotional well-being among Chinese American breast cancer survivors: a path model

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Abstract

Purpose

Most existing studies on fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) are exploratory without theoretical underpinnings and have been conducted among non-Hispanic Whites. Based on theoretical models, we hypothesized that more physical symptoms (pain and fatigue) would be associated with higher FCR, which, in turn would be related to lower emotional well-being among Chinese American breast cancer survivors.

Methods

Participants were 77 Chinese American women who were diagnosed with breast cancer of stages 0–III. A cross-sectional path analysis was conducted with a bootstrapping method.

Results

The final model showed that indirect paths from pain interference to emotional well-being and from fatigue to emotional well-being via FCR were significant. That is, higher levels of pain interference and fatigue were associated with higher FCR, which was further related to lower emotional well-being.

Conclusions

To our best knowledge, this is the first theory-driven study that investigates FCR experiences among Chinese American breast cancer survivors. Our study might provide a more comprehensive understanding of FCR as it simultaneously shows predictors and a psychological consequence of FCR. Results need to be replicated in large, racially/ethnically diverse samples and longitudinal studies.

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Acknowledgements

This research was funded by the American Cancer Society (MRSGT-10-011-01-CPPB: PI Qian Lu). We thank to Toyin Ayilara for her proofreading.

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Author notes

  1. Dalnim Cho

    Present address: Health Disparities Research, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX, 77030, USA

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychological Sciences, University of Connecticut, 406 Babbidge Rd, Unit 1020, Storrs, CT, 06269-1020, USA

    Dalnim Cho

  2. Department of Psychology, University of Houston, 126 Heyne Building, Houston, TX, 77204, USA

    Qiao Chu & Qian Lu

Authors
  1. Dalnim Cho
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  2. Qiao Chu
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  3. Qian Lu
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Correspondence to Dalnim Cho or Qian Lu.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Cho, D., Chu, Q. & Lu, Q. Associations among physical symptoms, fear of cancer recurrence, and emotional well-being among Chinese American breast cancer survivors: a path model. Support Care Cancer 26, 1755–1761 (2018). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-017-4010-3

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