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Navigating Uncertainty Together: A Longitudinal Dyadic Analysis of Adult Only-Child Patients With Advanced Cancer and
1School of Journalism and Communication, Jinan University, Guangzhou, China.
Psycho-Oncology
|June 18, 2026
Summary
Adult-only child cancer patients and their parents manage uncertainty through mutual protection and future planning. This strategy stabilizes families but limits emotional expression, requiring tailored support.
Area of Science:
- Oncology
- Psychology
- Sociology
Background:
- Advanced cancer presents unique challenges for adult patients and their parental caregivers.
- Uncertainty is a significant factor influencing patient-caregiver dynamics in serious illness.
Purpose of the Study:
- To explore how adult only-child patients with advanced cancer and their parents manage uncertainty.
- To examine the influence of uncertainty management on family relationships.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal qualitative study with 10 patient-parent dyads (20 participants) in southern China.
- Semi-structured interviews conducted at three time points.
- Data analyzed using reflexive thematic analysis guided by uncertainty management theory.
Main Results:
- Dyads practiced mutual concealment for protection, evolving from secrecy to selective disclosure.
- Coping strategies shifted from seeking certainty to accepting ambiguity; patients planned for parents' future.
- Family relationships showed coexisting conflict and adaptation, with dissolving parent-child boundaries.
Conclusions:
- Adult patients and parents in only-child families co-manage illness uncertainty via mutual protection and future planning.
- This coping style maintains family stability but restricts emotional expression.
- Healthcare systems need to provide stage-aligned psychosocial and community support for these dyads.
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