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Gender differences in associations between cancer-related problems and relationship dissolution among cancer survivors

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Abstract

Purpose

Research suggests that a cancer diagnosis predicts marital dissolution more strongly for women survivors than men, but there is a paucity of research on potential processes underlying this vulnerability. The present cross-sectional study examined whether specific cancer-related problems were associated with the odds of relationship breakup following diagnosis and whether these relationships differed between male and female cancer survivors.

Methods

A national cross-sectional quality of life study assessed self-reported cancer-related problems and relationship change among survivors who were either 2, 6, or 10 years post-diagnosis (n = 6099).

Results

Bivariate analyses indicated that cancer-related problems (e.g., emotional distress) were greater for divorced/separated survivors compared to those with intact relationships and were greater for women versus men. Logistic regressions indicated that for both male and female survivors, lower income, younger age, and longer time since diagnosis were associated with greater odds of divorce or separation after diagnosis (ORs > 2.14, p < .01). For women only, greater emotional distress (OR = 1.14, p < 0.01) and employment and financial problems (OR = 1.23, p < 0.0001) were associated with greater odds of post-diagnosis divorce or separation. For men only, fear of cancer recurrence was associated with greater odds of divorce or separation (OR = 1.32, p < 0.001).

Conclusion

Female and male survivors differed in the extent to which emotional or financial/employment problems attributed to the cancer diagnosis were associated with the likelihood of reporting relationship dissolution.

Implications for cancer survivors

Although directions of causality could not be ascertained, results suggest the possibility that helping male and female cancer survivors cope with specific cancer-related problems may benefit the quality and stability of their relationships with significant others following diagnosis.

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Acknowledgments

The American Cancer Society (ACS) Studies of Cancer Survivors (SCS) was funded as an intramural program of research conducted by the ACS Behavioral Research Center. We wish to acknowledge the cooperation and efforts of the cancer registries and public health departments from the states of Arizona, California (Regions 2–6), Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Maine, Massachusetts, Michigan, Nebraska, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Washington, and Wyoming. We also thank the staff of the hundreds of hospitals that reported cases to the participating cancer registries. Lastly, we are grateful to the thousands of cancer survivors, their physicians, and their loved ones who contributed to the collection of these data. The authors assume full responsibility for analyses and interpretation of these data

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology and Criminal Justice, Kennesaw State University, 402 Bartow Avenue NW, Kennesaw, GA, 30144, USA

    Cristina Stephens

  2. American Cancer Society, 250 Williams Street NW, Atlanta, GA, 30303, USA

    J. Lee Westmaas, Rachel Cannady & Kevin Stein

  3. Bagwell College of Education, Secondary and Middle Program, Kennesaw State University, Kennesaw, GA, USA

    Jihye Kim

Authors
  1. Cristina Stephens
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  2. J. Lee Westmaas
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  3. Jihye Kim
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  4. Rachel Cannady
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  5. Kevin Stein
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Cristina Stephens.

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Funding

This study was funded by an intramural program of research conducted by the American Cancer Society’s Behavioral Research Center.

Conflict of interest

The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

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. This article does not contain any studies with animals performed by any of the authors.

Informed consent

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

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Stephens, C., Westmaas, J.L., Kim, J. et al. Gender differences in associations between cancer-related problems and relationship dissolution among cancer survivors. J Cancer Surviv 10, 865–873 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-016-0532-9

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  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11764-016-0532-9

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