Loneliness despite the presence of others - adolescents' experiences of having a parent who becomes ill with cancer

Abstract

Aim: The aim of this study was to describe young adults' own perspectives on the experience of having a parent who developed cancer when the young adult was an adolescent.

Method: Narrative interviews were conducted with six young adults aged between 20 and 26. The interviews were analysed using qualitative content analysis.

Results: The main message that the young adults communicated in the interviews was interpreted as the overarching theme 'Loneliness despite the presence of others'. Two domains with three categories each emerged: distance, comprising a feeling of loneliness, lacking the tools to understand, and grief and anger; and closeness, comprising belief in the future, comfort and relief, and a need for support. The young adults felt a loneliness that they had never experienced before, and they lacked the tools to understand the situation. They felt grief and anger over what the cancer had caused. However, they had still managed to regain faith in the future. They found comfort and relief in the thought that this would not necessarily happen to them again, and they gained support from talking to family and friends.

Conclusion: If all family members are given the same information, it becomes easier to talk about what is happening. This can reduce adolescent children's experience of loneliness. Contact with health care professionals should be maintained throughout the period of illness. Many short informal contacts create relationships and trust that can be helpful if the worst happens and the parent dies.

Keywords: Adolescents; Loneliness; Narrative; Parental cancer; Qualitative content analysis; Young adults.