Coping with Breast Cancer across Adulthood: Emotional Support Communication in the Mother-Daughter Bond

• In Event: Parent-Child Communication about Health

Abstract

Women diagnosed with breast cancer encounter traumatic changes they must learn to manage. Across ages women report that their mother-daughter bond is significant to their experience. A socioemotional selectivity framework suggests individuals diagnosed with cancer at any age prioritize emotional support in kin bonds to maximize adaptability. To explore this, 40 diagnosed young-adult, midlife, and later-life women and 38 of their mothers/daughters participated in interviews to reveal communication helpful to their adjustment to breast cancer.

Author

• Carla L. Fisher, Arizona State University