Abstract :
It is well established that cancer can emotionally impact patients as well as their families. anxiety, distress, and depression are common emotions throughout this life-changing experience. The study aimed to investigate the mental adjustment to cancer on family adjustment and depressive symptoms among adolescents with cancer. The sample size was N = 135, adolescents aged between 11 to 14 years (M=12.65, SD=1.06). A correlational research design was used for this study, with the data being collected through non-probability purposive sampling technique. The data was gathered from Children's Hospital, Faisalabad. Mental Adjustment to Cancer (MACS) scale (Watson et al., 1988) (?=.79), Parenting and Family Adjustment scale (PAFAS) (Sanders et al., 2014) (?=.79-.87) and Patient Health Questionnaire (PHQ-9) (Kroenke et al., 2001) (?=.89) were used for measuring constructs of this study among adolescents diagnosed with cancer. There was a significant positive relationship between family adjustment and depressive symptoms (r= .78**) among adolescents with cancer. Family adjustment does not have a mediating role between mental adjustment to cancer and depressive symptoms.
Keyword :
Keywords: mental adjustment to cancer, family adjustment, depressive symptoms, adolescents, cancer