The Role of Acculturation in Parent-Child Relationships for Adolescent and Young Adult Patients' Adjustment to Cancer
type: CreativeWork
description: Approximately 70,000 adolescents/young adults (AYAs; ages 15-39) are diagnosed with cancer annually in the United States (NCI, 2015). This psychosocially at-risk group is less studied and understood than other age cohorts, and experience disparities in access to developmentally informed treatment. A sub-demographic amongst this group that is even more-so less studied are immigrant AYAs. As cancer impacts family dynamics and roles, immigrant AYAs face a unique challenge of navigating the cancer experience alongside the acculturative experience. To our knowledge, little to no research exists on the role of acculturation in AYAs and parent-child relationships when coping with cancer. Research exists on conflicts in parent-child relationships due to differences in acculturation known as the acculturative gap. Understanding the role of the acculturative gap as well as overall acculturative attitudes when coping with cancer may be a promising area of focus when conceptualizing care for cancer patients from various backgrounds. Study aims were to: 1) describe ways acculturation relates to how AYA patients adjust to cancer and 2) describe how acculturation across parent-child relationships relate to AYAs adjusting to cancer. Participants included 15 AYA cancer patients who have been diagnosed with cancer at Children's Health (M = 18.1) and 13 caregivers. Demographic variables were collected from medical records and other measures. Qualitative analysis was guided by the principles of grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and utilized the constant comparative approach. Guided by study aims, qualitative analysis generated three primary sections: Section I: Participants and Aspects of Culture; Section II: Cancer and Acculturation; Section III: Parent-Child Relationships, Cultural Attitudes, and Experiencing Cancer. Results suggest that cancer has a gravitational effect, pulling many participants closer to their heritage culture through various ways culture is performed to co…
abstract: Approximately 70,000 adolescents/young adults (AYAs; ages 15-39) are diagnosed with cancer annually in the United States (NCI, 2015). This psychosocially at-risk group is less studied and understood than other age cohorts, and experience disparities in access to developmentally informed treatment. A sub-demographic amongst this group that is even more-so less studied are immigrant AYAs. As cancer impacts family dynamics and roles, immigrant AYAs face a unique challenge of navigating the cancer experience alongside the acculturative experience. To our knowledge, little to no research exists on the role of acculturation in AYAs and parent-child relationships when coping with cancer. Research exists on conflicts in parent-child relationships due to differences in acculturation known as the acculturative gap. Understanding the role of the acculturative gap as well as overall acculturative attitudes when coping with cancer may be a promising area of focus when conceptualizing care for cancer patients from various backgrounds. Study aims were to: 1) describe ways acculturation relates to how AYA patients adjust to cancer and 2) describe how acculturation across parent-child relationships relate to AYAs adjusting to cancer. Participants included 15 AYA cancer patients who have been diagnosed with cancer at Children's Health (M = 18.1) and 13 caregivers. Demographic variables were collected from medical records and other measures. Qualitative analysis was guided by the principles of grounded theory (Glaser & Strauss, 1967) and utilized the constant comparative approach. Guided by study aims, qualitative analysis generated three primary sections: Section I: Participants and Aspects of Culture; Section II: Cancer and Acculturation; Section III: Parent-Child Relationships, Cultural Attitudes, and Experiencing Cancer. Results suggest that cancer has a gravitational effect, pulling many participants closer to their heritage culture through various ways culture is performed to co…
author: Khan, Talha
language: en
keywords: Acculturation, Adolescent, Emigrants and Immigrants, Neoplasms, Parent-Child Relations, Young Adult
date published: 2024-09-20T22:10:34Z
date modified: 2026-07-24T05:52:17Z
provider: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center

PropertyValue
property ID: Handle
value: https://hdl.handle.net/2152.5/10406