THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN PERCEIVED SUPPORT FROM FRIEND AND PSYCHOSOCIAL ADJUSTMENT TO ILLNESS IN ADOLESCENTS WITH CANCER

Cancer is a common chronic disease that, despite advances in treatment and care, affects all
aspects of a person's personal-family-social life and requires physical-psychosocial adjustment due to the severe
psychosocial consequences that follow. This is especially important in adolescents because they are in the period
of complex evolutionary changes. Adolescents' perceptions of support from friends and its relationship to
adolescent adjustment to cancer are also highly debated. Adolescents with cancer use a variety of social support
resources to help diagnose and treat their disease. Therefore, this study was conducted to determine the relationship
between the perception of support from friends and psychosocial adjustment to the disease in adolescents with
cancer.
Materials & Methods: In this descriptive-correlational study, 95 adolescents aged 11-20 years with cancer who
were referred to Amir Oncology Hospital and Imam Reza (AS) Clinic in Shiraz in 2019 according to the inclusion
criteria of the available sampling method and by completing the demographic profile form and questionnaires of
perceived support of friends and psychosocial adjustment to the illness scale participated in this study. Data were
analyzed using SPSS v.25 statistical software and descriptive and analytical statistical tests (mean and standard
deviation, frequency and percentage, Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients, one-way ANOVA and
independent t-test) at the significance level of p <0.05.
Results: The results showed that among the demographic characteristics, there was an inverse relationship between
ages with psychosocial adjustment to the illness, and there was no significant relationship between other
characteristics. There was no significant difference between the total scores of psychosocial adjustments among
girls and boys and also the mean scores of perceived supports from friends and the total score of psychosocial
adjustment between patients with leukemia and other types of cancer. Most patients had moderate perception of
support from friends (63.2%) with a total score of 23.24. Psychosocial adjustment to the illness was also at the
level of strong adjustment with a total score of 2.01 and the highest adjustment was related to the attitude toward
the illness with an average of 2.29 ± 0.47 and the lowest adjustment was related to the dimension of psychological
disorders with an average of 1.74 ± 0.82. The score of perception of support from friends was directly related to
the total score of psychosocial adjustment and the dimensions of attitudes toward illness and the social environment
(p <0.05).
Conclusion: According to the results of this study, it can be stated that there is a correlation between the perception
of support from friends and psychosocial adjustment to cancer in adolescents with cancer. Direct correlation of
perception of support from friends with the total score of psychosocial adjustment and dimensions of attitude
towards illness and social environment confirms the effect of adolescents' social relationships with peers and
friends on adaptation and adjustment to cancer in psychological (attitude to disease) and social dimensions (social
environment). It is clear that adolescents with cancer, with a good understanding of the support provided by friends
will have the power and motivation to accept and cope with the illness, and will be able to adapt to the new situation
with a positive feeling. Considering the results of the present study and other similar studies, it can be stated that
the support of friends as a source of support can help a person cope and promote psychosocial adjustment to the
illness