Poster Presentation 2025 Joint Meeting of the COSA ASM and IPOS Congress

An Examination of Material and Emotional Social Support on Distress Levels in Cancer Survivors (126824)

Matthew R Moore 1 , Britani Holland 1
  1. University of South Florida, Tampa, FL, United States

Background: Despite advances in cancer treatment, cancer remains a leading cause of death and disability worldwide. Survivors face lasting effects of both the disease and treatment, making support networks essential. Higher perceived social support can reduce mortality risk significantly. Perceived support also enhances quality of life, mental health, physical functioning, and overall adjustment in cancer survivors. The study sought to examine the potential mediating effects of both perceived social support on the relationship between physical cancer symptoms and psychological distress.

Methods: A sample of cancer patients (N=683) were surveyed on physical and psychological well-being during the course of their treatment. The sample was majority female (68%), and participant ages ranged from 18 to 93 (M=60.68, SD=13.01). Demographic characteristics were used as control variables in a sequential mediation model, where material support preceded emotional support as mediating influences on the relationship between physical symptoms and distress. Analyses were conducted using the Hayes PROCESS macro for SPSS.

Results: The model indicated that perceptions of emotional support were improved when participants received higher levels of material support (b=0.45, p<.001). The full model predicted 45% of the variance in distress scores (R2=.4534, F(5, 675)=34.23, p<.001). Notably, increases in material support were related to lower distress levels (b=-0.27, p<.001), while emotional support was not a factor (p=.193). Material support was a significant mediator between physical symptoms and distress (95% BootCI= [0.0041, 0.1006]).

Conclusions and Implications: Results showed that material social support served to improve levels of psychological distress and mediated the effects of physical cancer symptoms on distress. Interestingly, while material support predicted emotional support, emotional support itself was not a significant factor. This may indicate that material support increases perceptions of emotional support, thereby supplementing emotional support deficits. This further reinforces the needs of connecting survivors with resources and helping fill material support gaps.

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