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Social correlates of mental health in gastrointestinal cancer patients and their family caregivers: Exploring the role of loneliness

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Abstract

Purpose

The present study examined the degree to which loneliness mediated the influence of negative (social constraints) and positive (emotional support) relationship qualities on the global mental health of advanced gastrointestinal (GI) cancer patients and their family caregivers.

Methods

Fifty patient-caregiver dyads completed measures assessing social constraints (e.g., avoidance, criticism) from the other dyad members, emotional support from others, loneliness, and global mental health. Structural equation modeling was used to examine individual models, and Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Modeling was used to examine dyadic associations.

Results

Individual path analyses for patients and caregivers demonstrated that emotional support had a significant indirect effect on mental health through loneliness (Bs = 0.32 and 0.30, respectively), but no associations were found between social constraints and mental health. In dyadic analyses, participants’ loneliness and mental health were not significantly related to their partner’s emotional support, loneliness, or mental health (Bs = − 0.18 to 0.18).

Conclusions

Findings suggest that for advanced GI cancer patients and caregivers, emotional support from others alleviates feelings of loneliness, which may lead to better mental health. However, the benefits of emotional support appear to be primarily intrapersonal rather than interpersonal in nature. Additionally, participants endorsed low levels of social constraints, which might explain their lack of relation to loneliness and mental health. Continued examination of interdependence in social processes between cancer patients and caregivers will inform intervention development.

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Acknowledgements

We would like to thank the study participants, and Kelly Chinh, Susan Daily, and Danielle B. Tometich for assisting with this study.

Funding

This study was supported by the National Cancer Institute under Grants K05CA175048 (Shelley A. Johns and Catherine E. Mosher) and K07CA168883 (Catherine E. Mosher).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, Indiana University-Purdue University Indianapolis, 402 North Blackford Street, LD 124, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Ekin Secinti, Kevin L. Rand & Catherine E. Mosher

  2. Indiana University School of Medicine, Center for Health Services Research, Regenstrief Institute, 1101 W. 10th Street, RF-226, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Shelley A. Johns

  3. Indiana University School of Medicine, Indiana University Melvin and Bren Simon Cancer Center, 535 Barnhill Drive, Indianapolis, IN, 46202, USA

    Bert H. O’Neil, Paul R. Helft, Safi Shahda & Shadia I. Jalal

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  1. Ekin Secinti
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Correspondence to Ekin Secinti.

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The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest.

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All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

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Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Secinti, E., Rand, K.L., Johns, S.A. et al. Social correlates of mental health in gastrointestinal cancer patients and their family caregivers: Exploring the role of loneliness. Support Care Cancer 27, 2077–2086 (2019). https://doi.org/10.1007/s00520-018-4467-8

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