“Sometimes I get in an awkward situation”: Examining the ongoing effects of cancer on young people’s relationships

Abstract

Adolescence (12 – 17 years of age) and emerging adulthood (18 – 25 years of age) are periods of rapid and dramatic change in young people’s physical, psychological, and social development. Few events can cause such challenging alterations to the process of transition from childhood to adulthood as the onset of a serious illness like cancer. Much is known about the physical and psychological consequences of having cancer during adolescence and young adulthood. However, we have more to learn about the effects of cancer on young people’s relationships. The “Growing Up With Cancer” study aimed to determine the nature and extent of the impact of cancer on the transition from adolescence to adulthood.Aim: To describe the impact of cancer on the important relationships in the lives of participants in the Growing up with Cancer study, especially after their treatment had finished (their period of survivorship).Cancer is a complex social, relational, interpersonal, and continuing influence on people’s lives and so it creates both difference and the necessity for accommodation. Accommodation is a dynamic process that requires reciprocity, flexibility, and adaptability not only in the survivors of cancer but in the relationships that they have and that they make. Young people who survive cancer and their parents, peers, and new romantic partners must negotiate how they will accommodate the ongoing effects of cancer into their daily lives