Growing up with cancer : accommodating the effects of cancer into young people’s social lives

Adolescence and young adulthood are transitional periods of rapid and dramatic personal change. Few events can cause as unpredictable and challenging alterations to this process as the onset of a serious illness, such as cancer. Although we know much about the physical and psychological consequences of having cancer at this time, we know little about the effect of cancer on young people’s relationships. We conducted interviews with 15 women and 12 men aged between 16 and 29 years, who had survived cancer. Our findings demonstrate that the experience of cancer and how it affects relationships is complex. It arrests young people’s development by increasing their dependence on parents, giving them life experiences unavailable to peers, and complicating the process of establishing new relationships. However, it also accelerates development by facilitating closer and more mature relationships with parents and giving young people wisdom and insight not shared by peers. Cancer profoundly shapes how young people conduct their relationships. These changes require ongoing accommodation by young people with cancer, their parents, peers, and new acquaintances.