The relationships among symptom distress, functional status and self-esteem among adolescents with cancer : secondary analysis

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to examine the relationships between symptom distress, functional status, and self- esteem among adolescents with cancer. The research design was a secondary data analysis of Dr. Joan Haase's (1994) study The Adolescent Resilience Model: Development and Instrumentation. The sample consisted of 130 adolescents whose ages ranged from 11- 26 years of age. The data was collected from four sites, Children's Hospital- Los Angeles, British Columbia Children's Hospital, Richland Memorial Hospital in South Carolina, and University Medical Center in Tucson, Arizona. The instruments used to analyze the variables were the Mc Corkle Symptom Distress Scale (SDS), Short Form Health Survey- Medical Outcomes Study (MOS), and the Rosenberg Self- Esteem Scale (SES). The relationships among the three variables were analyzed by the Pearson's product moment correlation coefficient. Statistical significance was set at p=O .05. The findings showed that there were significant relationships (p=0.000) among symptom distress, functional status, and self- esteem among adolescents with cancer. There was a negative significant relationship (r= -0.66; p= .000) between symptom distress and functional status. A significant relationship (r= 0.63; p= .000) between functional status and self- esteem was determined. The relationship between symptom distress and self- esteem was determined to be a significant negative relationship (p=.000; r= -0. 4821). The implications of these finding provide evidence that symptom distress and changes in functional status related to cancer and cancer therapy can affect the development and maintenance of self- esteem among adolescents with cancer.