Fear of cancer recurrence, distress, and quality of life in adolescent and young adult cancer survivors

Adolescents and young adult cancer survivors often experience high levels of fear of cancer recurrence (FCR), which significantly impacts their emotional well-being and quality of life. The lack of studies on this target population in Portugal leads to a gap of knowledge that informs the development of interventions and solutions aimed at AYA cancer survivors. This study aimed to analyze the moderating effect of FCR on the relationship between emotional distress and quality of life in AYA surviving cancer. This is a cross-sectional study including 96 participants between the ages of 15 and 25 at the time of diagnosis. Sociodemographic, clinical, and psychosocial characteristics were collected through a sociodemographic and clinical questionnaire, the FCR7 scale, the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), and the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer Quality of Life Questionnaire Core-30 (EORTC QLQ-C30). We analyzed correlations between FCR and clinical, sociodemographic factors and tested the direct and indirect relationships between FCR, distress, and quality of life. The results indicated that high levels of FCR were associated with lower emotional functioning, and gender was the only sociodemographic variable significantly associated with FCR. Although anxiety was found to influence emotional functioning in AYAs, FCR did not moderate the relationship between anxiety and emotional functioning. This study allows us to gain more knowledge about the psychological impact of the disease on this population.