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August 27, 2026Cancer Survivorship Research & CareOpen Access

Self-advocacy: a critical mediator between spousal disease communication and symptom perception in breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy

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Authors

JLJia-Zhu LiuLMLimin MengDLDong-Mei Lin

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Overview

Cross-sectional survey reveals self-advocacy mediates the link between spousal communication and symptom burden in breast cancer patients, suggesting dyadic interventions ease treatment side effects.

Key Points

  • To investigate whether self-advocacy mediates the relationship between spousal illness communication and chemotherapy-related symptom burden in breast cancer patients.
  • Conducted a cross-sectional survey recruiting 411 dyads of breast cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy and their spouses at a tertiary hospital center in Ganzhou, China, from March to December 2024.
  • Assessed participants using the Female Cancer Survivor Self-Advocacy Scale (FSACS), Couple’s Cancer Communication Problems Scale, and Breast Cancer Patient Chemotherapy-Related Symptom Assessment Scale, evaluated through mediation analysis.
  • Reported mean baseline scores of 60.07 ± 12.79 for patient self-advocacy, 29.45 ± 11.25 for symptom burden, 15.24 ± 6.73 for patient communication problems, and 15.15 ± 5.36 for spousal communication problems.
  • Self-advocacy significantly mediated the relationship between patient illness communication and symptom burden, accounting for 82.8% of the total effect.
  • Demonstrated a significant chain mediation effect from spousal communication to patient symptom perception via patient communication and self-advocacy.

Cite This Study

Liu et al. (2026) studied this question.

synapsesocial.com/papers/6a8fe96710c91c1e92620f13https://doi.org/10.1080/28352610.2026.2721090
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