Predictors of health-harming and health-protective behaviors in adolescents with cancer.
May 15, 2008 behaviors, protective behaviors, adolescents, adolescents with cancer, protective, health protective, Predictors, health, harming, health harming, cancer No Comments
Department of cancer Pediatrics, Section of Adolescent Medicine, Indiana University School of Medicine, Indianapolis, Indiana.
BACKGROUND: Given cancer adolescent cancer survivors’ increased cancer susceptibility to late effects, it is cancer imperative that we understand factors that influence their cancer engagement in healthy and cancer unhealthy behaviors. The purpose of this exploratory study was to identify significant predictors of health-harming and health-protective behaviors in adolescent cancer patients. PROCEDURE: Forty-two adolescents (ages 12-19 years) currently on-treatment for cancer and their parents were cancer recruited from outpatient pediatric cancer clinics. Adolescents cancer completed a battery of questionnaires that assessed their health-behaviors, cancer quality of life, and cancer psychological distress, while parents completed a demographic questionnaire. RESULTS: Regression cancer analyses indicated that specific demographic, illness, and cancer psychosocial variables significantly cancer predicted health-harming and health-protective behaviors. Older adolescent age and unmarried parent status emerged as the best predictors of cancer adolescent health-harming behaviors, whereas married parent status, increased cancer adolescent time since diagnosis, increased adolescent-rated quality of life, and increased distress emerged as the best predictors of health-protective cancer behaviors. CONCLUSIONS: Demographic, illness, and psychosocial variables may help inform the development of interventions designed to promote the initiation and/or maintenance of good health practices among adolescents on-treatment for cancer. Interventions are needed that target health behaviors while adolescents are approaching treatment cancer completion, in order to help facilitate the practice of good health practices in survivorship. Pediatr Blood Cancer (c) 2008 Wiley-Liss, Inc.
