Contributing factors to well-being in a sample of long-term survivors of childhood acute lymphoblastic leukemia : the role of social support in emotional regulation

Abstract

Objectives. To understand why some long-term childhood cancer survivors experience positive adjustment in the long run, this study aimed to 1) explore associations between well-being, health status, social support, and emotion regulation (ER) strategies in a cohort of long-term childhood lymphoblastic leukemia (cALL) survivors, 2) identify the individual contribution of each ER strategy to well-being 3) and their interaction with social support. Methods. We used data from 92 participants from the PETALE cohort (51% female, aged 24 ± 7 years). Measures included well-being (WHO-5), health status (15D), social support (SSQ-6), cognitive reappraisal and expressive suppression (ERQ), and emotional processing and expression (EAC). We modeled the odds of high well-being adjusting for health status in logistic regressions and explored the moderating role of social support with bootstrap techniques. Independent of clinical history, high well-being was associated with better health status, higher social support, more frequent use of cognitive reappraisal and emotional processing. Results. We found a main contribution of emotional processing to well-being (OR = 2.12, 95% CI = 1.09-5.37). The interaction between low suppression and high social support was significant (OR = .40, 95% CI = .13-.79). Probabilities for high well-being were 96% when expressive suppression was low and social support was high. Results suggest approaching one’s own emotions may contribute to well-being in long-term childhood cancer survivors. Clinical implications. Combining curbing emotional suppression with promoting supportive social environment could be a promising target for future supportive care interventions in survivors.