Perceived Social Support, Uncertainty, and Quality of Life of Younger Breast Cancer Survivors

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This study investigated the relationship between perceived social support, uncertainty, and quality of life among younger breast cancer survivors. Proposed hypotheses predicted a significant positive correlation between perceived social support and quality of life, a significant negative correlation between uncertainty and quality of life, and that perceived social support and uncertainty, considered together, will explain more of the variance of quality of life than either variable considered independently. A sample of 101 breast cancer survivors below age 50 completed the Social Support Questionnaire, Mishel Uncertainty in Illness Scale--Community Form, and Ferrans and Powers Quality of Life Index--Cancer Version. Data were analyzed using Pearson product-moment correlation and stepwise multiple regression. All three hypotheses were supported. Additional findings revealed a significant positive correlation between support and network size, and between network size and the socioeconomic domain of quality of life. Significant negative correlations were found between perceived social support and uncertainty, between network size and time since diagnosis and treatment, and between network size and uncertainty. Study results demonstrated that although perceived social support and uncertainty accounted for a significant amount (27.2%) of variance of quality of life, a large amount of variance remains unexplained. Further research is needed in this area.