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Growth from Trauma: Gender Differences in the Experience of Cancer and Long-term Survivorship

Gender, Women’s Health Care Concerns and Other Social Factors in Health and Health Care

ISBN: 978-1-78756-176-2, eISBN: 978-1-78756-175-5

Publication date: 18 September 2018

Abstract

Purpose

This research explores how gender influences the experience of cancer care and proposes a new explanation for gender differences in posttraumatic growth among individuals who received blood or marrow transplantation as treatment for lymphoma.

Methodology/approach

We use mixed methods, combining quantitative examination of surveys with 180 survivors with qualitative findings from semi-structured face-to-face interviews with 50 survivors. Participants were 2–25 years after transplantation. Quantitative data were analyzed using statistical modeling; qualitative data were analyzed using thematic coding.

Findings

A quantitative examination indicates that compared to men, women report greater posttraumatic growth and more positive impacts of cancer despite having lower physical health. These gender differences are robust even after controlling for physical and emotional well-being, life satisfaction, and social support. Qualitative findings from in-depth interviews show that gender norms and expectations about masculinity and femininity shape how individuals experience illness and perform the role of patient and survivor. Expectations about being a good patient and survivor are more aligned with expectations about femininity and tend to conflict with expectations about masculinity. Gender norms discourage men from reporting personal growth from cancer and encourage women to overemphasize the positive aspects of having had cancer.

Research limitations/implications

This study was conducted two or more years after treatment had ended; therefore, potential for recall bias existed. Nevertheless, the findings suggest that viewing cancer as transformative is part of a gender performance that limits opportunities for individuals to experience and express a diverse range of reactions which, at times, increases the emotional burden on individuals.

Originality/value

By combining survey data with in-depth interviews, the study offers new insights into the causes of gender differences in the reporting of patient outcomes after illness.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

Acknowledgments

We would like to acknowledge the efforts of the study participants, the support of Dr Kate Tierney and Dr Ginna Laport, the dedication of Katelyn Ann Tynan and other undergraduate and graduate research assistants, and the extensive support and guidance of the late Dr Karl Blume, who encouraged and inspired this work. This research was supported by a Stanford Cancer Center Internal Grant.

Citation

Powroznik, K., Stepanikova, I. and Cook, K.S. (2018), "Growth from Trauma: Gender Differences in the Experience of Cancer and Long-term Survivorship", Gender, Women’s Health Care Concerns and Other Social Factors in Health and Health Care (Research in the Sociology of Health Care, Vol. 36), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 17-36. https://doi.org/10.1108/S0275-495920180000036001

Publisher

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Emerald Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2018 Emerald Publishing Limited