ArticleJournal of cancer survivorship : research and practice2014
Adopting a survivor identity after cancer in a peer support context.
Article in Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice, 2014. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 24 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
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Who cites it
24 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it.
- Rumination and posttraumatic growth in people with cancer: A systematic review and meta-analysis.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Pooled it
- How effective is peer-to-peer support in cancer patients and survivors? A systematic review.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2023Pooled it
- Perceptions of terminology among individuals known to oncology services: a cross sectional survey.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2026Article
- How Cancer Online Support Groups Work, for Whom, and in What Circumstances: Realist Review.Journal of medical Internet research · 2026Review
- "Life gives you a lemon, you make lemonade": a qualitative study of identity among young male adult cancer survivors.Journal of cancer research and clinical oncology · 2025Article
- Behind the label: a qualitative study of the self-perceptions of individuals with advanced lung cancer receiving immunotherapy or targeted therapy.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- A UK national cross-sectional survey of stroke support groups: exploring the role of social identification and group processes in reducing loneliness.BMC public health · 2024Article
- Cancer-related self-perception in men affected by prostate cancer after radical prostatectomy.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2024Article
- Distinguishing the Need to Belong and Sense of Belongingness: The Relation between Need to Belong and Personal Appraisals under Two Different Belongingness-Conditions.European journal of investigation in health, psychology and education · 2023Article
- Diversity of cancer-related identities in long-term prostate cancer survivors after radical prostatectomy.BMC cancer · 2021Article
- Factors Associated with "Survivor Identity" in Men with Breast Cancer.Current oncology (Toronto, Ont.) · 2021Article
- Self-identity, lived experiences, and challenges of breast, cervical, and prostate cancer survivorship in Mexico: a qualitative study.BMC cancer · 2020Article
- Psychometric properties and correlates of a brief scale measuring the psychological construct mattering to others in a sample of women recovering from breast cancer.Quality of life research : an international journal of quality of life aspects of treatment, care and rehabilitation · 2019Article
- Article
- Patient, cured, victim or survivor of urological cancer? A qualitative study.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2018Article
- Navigating cancer using online communities: a grounded theory of survivor and family experiences.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2017Article
- Cancer Victim Identity for Individuals with Histories of Cancer and Childhood Sexual Abuse.Journal of rational-emotive and cognitive-behavior therapy : RET · 2017Article
- Social media for breast cancer survivors: a literature review.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2017Review
- Are you a cancer survivor? A review on cancer identity.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2016Review
- The salience of cancer and the "survivor" identity for people who have completed acute cancer treatment: a qualitative study.Journal of cancer survivorship : research and practice · 2016Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
6 authors.
Funding
Abstract
purposeThe term cancer survivor can refer to individuals from diagnosis through the rest of their life. However, not all people with cancer identify as a survivor, and underlying factors and correlates are yet to be well-explored empirically.
methodsStudy 1 surveyed men in a prostate cancer peer support network (n = 514), exploring psychosocial variables related to adopting a survivor identity. Study 2 interviewed 160 women with breast cancer in an online support group and collected observational data, assessing how survivor identity relates to perceptions of and participation in online support groups.
resultsFor men, survivor identity (35 %) was related to lower levels of threat appraisal (p = .000), more deliberate rumination (p = .042), gaining greater understanding of cancer experience through peers (p = .041) and a higher, though marginally significant, level of posttraumatic growth (p = .052). Women adopting a survivor identity (50 %) had higher rates of online support group posts (p = .048), a greater feeling of mattering to the group (p = .002), rated the group as more helpful (p = .004 to .01) and had less difficulty in relating to the group (p = .002) than women not identifying as a survivor.
conclusionsSurvivor identity was related to active and positive engagement with peers, and cognitive processing. IMPLICATIONS FOR CANCER SURVIVORS: While the cancer survivor metaphor may be salient for some people diagnosed with cancer, many did not associate with the term, highlighting the complexity surrounding survivorship discourse and the need to be sensitive to unique individual needs in psychosocial interventions that involve groups.
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