Dyadic family hardiness and coping styles on fear of cancer recurrence in adolescent malignant bone tumor patients and caregivers

The current status of the fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) was investigated among adolescents with malignant bone tumors and their caregivers, and the actor‒partner interdependence model was applied to explore the influence of family resilience and the coping styles of adolescents with malignant bone tumors and their caregivers on their own FCR as well as that of each other. This study used a cross-sectional design and 269 adolescents with malignant bone tumors paired with their caregivers were selected from two hospitals in Zhejiang Province. These samples were surveyed using the Fear of Progression Questionnaire-Short Form, the Family Hardiness Index, and a simple coping style questionnaire. A total of 560 questionnaires were distributed, and 538 valid questionnaires were collected, including those from 269 patients and 269 caregivers, for a recovery rate of 96.07%. The model fit for positive response, family resilience, and negative coping with the FCR by these patients and their caregivers was good. In the actor model, patients' positive coping and family resilience negatively predicts their own FCR, while patients' negative coping positively predicts their own FCR, and caregivers' family resilience negatively predicts their own FCR. In the partner model, patient' and caregivers' positive coping negatively predicts each other's FCR, while patients' and caregivers' negative coping positively predicts each other's FCR, and caregivers' family resilience negatively predicts each other's FCR. However, caregivers' coping styles have no actor effect on their own FCR, and caregivers' family resilience has no partner effects on patients' FCR. The FCR of adolescent patients with malignant bone tumors and their caregivers exerts an interactive effect on the coping styles and family resilience levels of both parties, suggesting that medical staff should treat patients and caregivers as a whole, give due consideration to the FCR assessments of adolescent malignant bone tumor patients and their caregivers, and actively explore intervention programs from a binary perspective to effectively reduce the FCR degree of both parties.