Researchers
Julie S. Reynolds and Nancy A. Perrin of the Kaiser Permanente Center
for Health Research and Oregon Health & Science University in
Portland report in the journal Health Psychology that the negative effect
of unwanted support was more substantial to the women’s psychosocial
adjustment to their illness than was the positive effect of support they
welcomed.
“Women with breast cancer vary in the social support actions they
want,” Reynolds and Perrin say. But there was no simple agreement
among the women about what sort of support they wanted. Only 17 of the
40 items in the survey were consistently wanted or not wanted by the
women.
Among the support items were statements like: “Asks if I want to
go out,” “Helps take my mind off cancer,” “Reminds
me things could be worse,” “Tries to understand my situation” and
others.
Matching the support a woman wants with what she receives is an important
factor in her psychosocial adjustment to the disease, they say.
Most of the 79 women in their study received the type of support they
desired. Support usually came from spouses/partners or other family members.
On average, each woman received about 88 percent of the support she wanted
and did not receive about 92 percent of the support she did not want.
However, the women reported receiving about 8 percent of their support
in ways they did not want, Reynolds and Perrin say. Undesired support may
include unwanted explanations about the cancer or emotional overinvolvement
by the support provider.
“Low satisfaction with a specific support action could reflect the
manner in which the action was carried out, or the fact that the woman
did not want that type of support,” they say.
Women’s responses fell into four patterns. One group
wanted only support that provided them with information and advice. A
second group
sought reassurance that things would soon return to normal. A third preferred
to be treated as though nothing had happened, while the last group wanted
support that allowed a woman to talk about her cancer but not to receive
any advice.
“Interestingly, no one support pattern was associated with better
or worse psychosocial adjustment,” they say. “But within
each support pattern, women varied in their psychosocial adjustment depending
on the degree to which their supporter matched their desired support
pattern.
More helpful support for breast cancer patients might come from better
communication between patients and support providers, they say. Asking
women in advance what they do and do not want, then counseling them and
their supporters. That could clarify their attitudes more closely and lead
to better adjustment on the part of the patients, the researchers add.
“Helping support givers and receivers align their expectations and
actions may make a difference in psychosocial adjustment to breast cancer,” they
say.
