TY - JOUR
T1 - Social support predicts inflammation, pain, and depressive symptoms
T2 - Longitudinal relationships among breast cancer survivors
AU - Hughes, Spenser
AU - Jaremka, Lisa M.
AU - Alfano, Catherine M.
AU - Glaser, Ronald
AU - Povoski, Stephen P.
AU - Lipari, Adele M.
AU - Agnese, Doreen M.
AU - Farrar, William B.
AU - Yee, Lisa D.
AU - Carson, William E.
AU - Malarkey, William B.
AU - Kiecolt-Glaser, Janice K.
N1 - Funding Information:
Work on this project was supported by NIH grants CA131029, UL1TR000090, CA016058 and K05 CA172296, American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship Grant 121911-PF-12-040-01-CPPB, and a Pelotonia Postdoctoral Fellowship from the Ohio State University Comprehensive Cancer Center.
PY - 2014/4
Y1 - 2014/4
N2 - Objective: Pain and depressive symptoms are commonly experienced by cancer survivors. Lower social support is linked to a variety of negative mental and physical health outcomes among survivors. Immune dysregulation may be one mechanism linking low social support to the development of pain and depressive symptoms over time. Accordingly, the goal of the present study was to examine the relationships among survivors' social support, pain, depressive symptoms, and inflammation. Methods: Breast cancer survivors (N= 164, stages 0-IIIA) completed two study visits, one before any cancer treatment and the other 6 months after the completion of surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy, whichever came last. Women completed self-report questionnaires assessing social support, pain, and depressive symptoms, and provided a blood sample at both visits. Results: Survivors with lower social support prior to treatment experienced higher levels of pain and depressive symptoms over time than their more socially supported counterparts. Furthermore, women with lower pretreatment social support had higher levels of IL-6 over time, and these elevations in IL-6 predicted marginally larger increases in depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that social support at the time of diagnosis predicts the post-treatment development of pain, depressive symptoms, and inflammation. Consequently, early interventions targeting survivors' social networks could improve quality of life during survivorship.
AB - Objective: Pain and depressive symptoms are commonly experienced by cancer survivors. Lower social support is linked to a variety of negative mental and physical health outcomes among survivors. Immune dysregulation may be one mechanism linking low social support to the development of pain and depressive symptoms over time. Accordingly, the goal of the present study was to examine the relationships among survivors' social support, pain, depressive symptoms, and inflammation. Methods: Breast cancer survivors (N= 164, stages 0-IIIA) completed two study visits, one before any cancer treatment and the other 6 months after the completion of surgery, radiation, or chemotherapy, whichever came last. Women completed self-report questionnaires assessing social support, pain, and depressive symptoms, and provided a blood sample at both visits. Results: Survivors with lower social support prior to treatment experienced higher levels of pain and depressive symptoms over time than their more socially supported counterparts. Furthermore, women with lower pretreatment social support had higher levels of IL-6 over time, and these elevations in IL-6 predicted marginally larger increases in depressive symptoms. Conclusions: The results of this study suggest that social support at the time of diagnosis predicts the post-treatment development of pain, depressive symptoms, and inflammation. Consequently, early interventions targeting survivors' social networks could improve quality of life during survivorship.
KW - Cancer survivors
KW - Depressive symptoms
KW - IL-6
KW - Inflammation
KW - Pain
KW - Social support
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=84895897011&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.12.016
DO - 10.1016/j.psyneuen.2013.12.016
M3 - Article
C2 - 24636499
AN - SCOPUS:84895897011
SN - 0306-4530
VL - 42
SP - 38
EP - 44
JO - Psychoneuroendocrinology
JF - Psychoneuroendocrinology
ER -