The Cancer Loneliness Scale and Cancer-related Negative Social Expectations Scale: Development and Validation

摘要

PurposeLoneliness is a known risk factor for poor mental and physical health outcomes and quality of life in the general population, and preliminary research suggests that loneliness is linked to poorer health outcomes in cancer patients as well. Various aspects of the cancer experience contribute to patients feeling alone and misunderstood. Furthermore, loneliness theory suggests that negative social expectations, which may specifically relate to the cancer experience, precipitate and sustain loneliness. Cancer-specific tools are needed to assess key constructs of this theory. In the current study, we developed and tested measures of: (1) loneliness attributed to cancer (i.e., cancer-related loneliness), and (2) negative social expectations related to cancer.