Survivor guilt: The secret burden of lung cancer survivorship.

Journal of Psychosocial Oncology
Tara PerloffMegan Johnson Shen

Abstract

Objectives: Historically, long-term survival following diagnosis of lung cancer has been a rare occurrence. An overall poor prognosis and the low likelihood of long-term survival are thought to precipitate survivors experiencing what is referred to as survivor guilt. This study explored the prevalence and nature of survivor guilt among lung cancer survivors. Methods: Lung cancer survivors (n = 108) completed an online survey through a national organization's online community platform. This survey included a commonly used measure of survivor guilt targeting lung cancer and a single item that asked about whether they had experienced survivor guilt associated with lung cancer. Additionally, survivors were asked to provide open-ended descriptions of survivor guilt. In-depth thematic analysis was used to analyze these in-depth responses from those with the highest guilt scores on the survey measure (top quartile). Results: Survey responses revealed a majority of study respondents endorsed survivor guilt with 55% reporting an experience of survivor guilt associated with lung cancer. In addition, 63.9% of respondents scored above the mean on the survivor guilt scale. Qualitative analysis revealed five recurring themes among respondent...Continue Reading

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Citations

Dec 10, 2020·Psychology, Health & Medicine·Tobias Luck, Claudia Luck-Sikorski
Oct 31, 2020·Respirology : Official Journal of the Asian Pacific Society of Respirology·Tiziana VavalàJennifer C King

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