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Cancer Victim Identity for Individuals with Histories of Cancer and Childhood Sexual Abuse

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Abstract

Identifying as a ‘cancer victim’ has been linked to adverse psychosocial sequelae in individuals who have been diagnosed with cancer. Being a childhood sexual abuse (CSA) survivor may predispose individuals towards a “victim” identity in general. The aim of this study was to determine the prevalence of identifying as a ‘cancer victim’ among CSA survivors who were diagnosed with cancer as adults, and to explore psychological factors associated with identification as a cancer victim. 105 adults reporting both a history of CSA and of having been diagnosed with cancer as an adult were recruited through Amazon Mechanical Turk. Variables assessed included CSA severity, abuse-related powerlessness, general mastery, and cancer victim identity. Fifty-one percent of the sample endorsed a cancer victim identity. Path analysis revealed that abuse-related powerlessness was related to decreased feelings of general mastery, which was in turn associated with cancer victim identification (x 2 = .12, DF = 1, p < .73; RMSEA = .00; SRMR = .01: Bentler CFI = 1.0). From a clinical perspective, the results suggest that increasing general mastery in CSA survivors in the cancer setting may be an important mechanism for attenuating the risk for developing a cancer victim identity and, presumably, for downstream adverse psychosocial sequelae.

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Acknowledgements

Funding was provided by National Cancer Institute (Grant Nos. R21CA173163, R25 CA081137).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Psychology, St. John’s University, 80-00 Utopia Parkway, Jamaica, NY, 11439, USA

    Glynnis A. McDonnell

  2. Department of Oncological Sciences, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, 1425 Madison Avenue, Box 1130, New York, NY, 10029, USA

    Madalina Sucala, Rachel E. Goldsmith, Guy H. Montgomery & Julie B. Schnur

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  1. Glynnis A. McDonnell
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  2. Madalina Sucala
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  3. Rachel E. Goldsmith
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  4. Guy H. Montgomery
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Correspondence to Glynnis A. McDonnell.

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McDonnell, G.A., Sucala, M., Goldsmith, R.E. et al. Cancer Victim Identity for Individuals with Histories of Cancer and Childhood Sexual Abuse. J Rat-Emo Cognitive-Behav Ther 35, 402–412 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10942-017-0268-0

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