Trajectories of Current and Predicted Satisfaction With One's Life Following a Cancer Diagnosis.

Background

Poor physical and mental health is common among cancer survivors, but little is known about how cancer influences life satisfaction and expectations about one's future, both of which may subsequently influence health decisions and outcomes.

Purpose

The current study examined how a cancer diagnosis influences current and predicted future life satisfaction in seven domains, including family, finances, work, and health.

Methods

We leveraged data from three waves of the Midlife in the United States study (N = 6,389) and examined the relation between new and past cancer diagnoses on satisfaction using generalized estimating equations. We also compared participants' predicted satisfaction to the actual satisfaction they reported at later waves of data collection, and examined whether concordance between the two differed by cancer history.

Results

A cancer diagnosis was associated with a decline in satisfaction about one's present health and sex life, ps < .05, but satisfaction with all other domains remained steady or improved. In contrast, predictions about the future became and remained less optimistic than the predictions of those without cancer across all life domains except relationships with children, ps < .05. Within-subjects comparisons of predicted and actual satisfaction suggest those without a cancer history were optimistic in their predictions across all life domains except health whereas survivors were more accurate in their predictions.

Conclusions

Given the many ways in which expectations about the future can influence decision making, behavior, and health, survivors' attenuated optimistic outlooks may influence their health and well-being.