Abstract
Open mother-daughter communication may enhance cancer knowledge, awareness, and prevention behaviors among the family members of cancer survivors. In Taiwan, almost one quarter (24.7 %) of all cancer diagnoses among females are attributed to breast cancer. This study, whose maternal participants are Taiwanese breast cancer survivors, investigated the potential influence of mother-daughter cancer communication on their daughters’ cancer prevention awareness, attitudes and behaviors. The research design employed a concurrent quantitative-dominant mixed method design in which both quantitative and qualitative data were collected and analyzed at the same time. The qualitative research consisted of seven in-depth interviews with daughters of breast cancer survivors and the quantitative research consisted of a survey of eighty daughters of breast cancer survivors. Results reveal that mother-daughter relationships and their communication were influenced by the mothers’ dependency on and accessibility to their daughters. Additionally, subsequent cancer prevention behaviors by the daughters were significantly influenced by their mothers’ advice. Open communication from Taiwanese mothers with breast cancer is an important means of cancer prevention among their daughters. The Taiwanese government and health professionals should find ways to encourage such communication and make it an integral part of broader cancer control efforts.
Journal Title
Iowa Journal of Communication
Volume
52
Issue
2
First Page
70
Last Page
86
Language
en
File Format
application/pdf
Recommended Citation
Chang, Wan-Lin
(2020)
"Communcation Matters: Mother-Daughter Communication in Breast Cancer Prevention in Taiwan,"
Iowa Journal of Communication: Vol. 52:
No.
2, Article 7.
Available at:
https://scholarworks.uni.edu/ijc/vol52/iss2/7
Copyright
©2020 Iowa Communication Association
