Adolescent and young adult cancer survivors narrate their stories: Predictive model of their personal growth and their follow-up acceptance

Purpose: Few studies have captured the unique ways in which cancer affects the growth and development of adolescent and young adult cancer survivors. This paper illustrates the daily life of childhood cancer survivors who are now adolescents and young adults, their post-traumatic growth and follow-up perceptions, adopting a narrative approach. Methods: One thousand adolescent and young adult cancer survivors, mean age at diagnosis being 9.26 years old (SD = 4.29) and current mean age of 19.28 (SD = 2.96), were interviewed in depth using a new version of Ecocultural Family Interview Cancer (EFI-C), which has proved to be a psychometrically reliable instrument. Results: Post-traumatic growth was predicted directly by age at diagnosis and, indirectly, by the mediation of the health medical staff patient relationship during the illness, hospitalization memories, and patient's narrating skills. Positive feelings towards follow-up visits were predicted by the health staff patient relationship during the illness (Chi-Square = 2.87; df = 3, p-value = 0.41; RMSEA = 0.0001). Conclusion: Adolescent and young adult cancer survivors who were older and had established strong relationships with health professionals at the clinic were more able to narrate their experiences, display a positive comprehension of the events with a pragmatic acceptance of the follow-up procedures. Relationships with health professionals should therefore be monitored and improved, both during the cancer treatment and in the off-therapy period. The narrative technique allows adolescent and young adult cancer survivors to reorganize and give shape to their traumatic experience.