A cancer diagnosis can be isolating. That’s especially true for young adults who are navigating crucial developmental stages in their lives. These young patients may be in college, just deciding on careers, living apart from their families and weighing whether to have families of their own. A cancer diagnosis puts big life decisions on hold.

“Young adults are in an important developmental phase socially. They’re establishing their own personal relationships,” said Xiaoyin (Shelly) Li, Ph.D., an applied research scientist at Moffitt Cancer Center who recently completed a study on social isolation and social connectedness among young adult cancer survivors. “Social isolation is particularly impactful for them because it could delay their life and some of these big milestones.”

Li presented her study findings Wednesday at the 13^th annual Moffitt Scientific Symposium held at the University of South Florida Marshall Student Center. The study assessed 301 cancer survivors ages 18 to 39 who were part of a larger cohort study. Over the course of one year, researchers evaluated social isolation, social connectedness, depression and anxiety in the survivors. The young adults answered questions about how often they felt left out, alone and isolated. They were also asked about opportunities for companionship, emotional support, informational support and instrumental support, such as having someone to help with daily chores and errands. 

Ultimately, Li and her team found that young adult survivors who were more socially isolated had lower levels of social connectedness and more symptoms of depression and anxiety. Higher levels of social connectedness were protective and buffered the effect of social isolation on depression, but this was not the case for anxiety.

"As behavior scientists, we want to develop some intervention to decrease isolation and increase connectedness to reduce depression in these young adult cancer survivors."

- Xiaoyin (Shelly) Li, Ph.D.

The findings give researchers an opportunity to help young people with cancer combat depression related to their diagnosis and treatment.

“There are links between social isolation and depression through social connectedness,” Li explained. “As behavior scientists, we want to develop some intervention to decrease isolation and increase connectedness to reduce depression in these young adult cancer survivors.”

Li notes that this population is particularly important to study as cancer rates are rising in young adults. More than 80,000 young adults are diagnosed with cancer each year in the United States.

Moffitt’s Adolescent and Young Adult Program focuses on providing support services specific to this population. The program helps patients and families manage the emotional toll of cancer and connect with others facing similar issues. Research such as Li’s will help further these avenues of support.