Abstract
Objective
Fear of cancer recurrence(FCR) poses a significant psychological challenge for patients undergoing radiotherapy and their family caregivers, affecting their overall well-being. This study examines the actor and partner effects of mindfulness, depression, and family avoidance of communication about cancer (FACC) on FCR of both patients and caregivers. This research contributes to the development of a dyadic intervention strategy for addressing FCR in psycho-oncology.
Methods
In a cross-sectional study, 265 inpatient cancer patients with radiotherapy and their family caregivers were sampled. Data on demographics, FCR, mindfulness, depression, and FACC were collected from both patients and caregivers in the final week of treatment. Actor-partner interdependence models through structural equation modeling were employed to analyze the actor and partner effects of mindfulness, depression, and FACC on FCR among patients and caregivers.
Results
The average FCR scores of 265 cancer patients with radiotherapy and family caregivers were 14.80 (SD = 6.85) and 15.56 (SD = 7.20), respectively. After adjusting for literacy, the Actor-partner interdependence models revealing that mindfulness, depression, FACC exerted a significant actor effect on FCR among both patients and caregivers. Three partner effects were found: caregivers’ mindfulness negatively predicted patient's FCR, caregivers' depression and FACC positively predicted the patient's FCR, patients’ FACC positively predicted caregivers’ FCR. However, patients' mindfulness and depression did not predict caregivers’ FCR.
Conclusions
The findings from this study suggest that future interventions should consider patients and caregivers as a unified entity. It is recommended to enhance mindfulness level, mitigate depression, and improve cancer-related communication to collectively reduce the FCR for both patients and caregivers.