ABSTRACT
Background/Purpose: Social isolation is associated with worse outcomes among cancer survivors, whereas social support is protective. Social factors are particularly important to evaluate among young adult (YA) cancer survivors aged 18-39 given the rapid social development that occurs during young adulthood, and social isolation may have been exacerbated during the COVID-19 pandemic. We examined differences in social isolation and social support among YA vs. older adult cancer survivors (aged >=40) across one year of the COVID-19 pandemic. Method(s): Participants were recruited to a large cohort study from 11/2020 to 02/2021. PROMIS short forms were used to assess social isolation at enrollment, 2-months, 6-months, and 10-months, and social support (i.e., emotional, instrumental, and informational support and companionship) at 2-months, 4-months, 6-months, 8-months, and 12-months. Propensity score matching to nearest neighbor was used to match YAs with older adult cancer survivors based on demographic and clinical characteristics. Multilevel models were used to evaluate the effects of age (YA vs. older adult), time (month), and the interaction of age and time on social isolation and social support. Result(s): In total, 504 participants were included (252 matched pairs). Most were female (70%), White (81%), and non-Hispanic (83%). YAs were M = 33.6 years (SD = 4.5) and older adults were M = 58.8 years (SD = 10.4). Across age groups and time, average scores for social isolation and social support were within normal ranges. YAs reported more social isolation than older adults (Mpooled = 48.7 and 45.8, respectively;Beta = 2.50, p < 0.01), and social isolation and companionship decreased similarly for YAs and older adults (Beta = -0.12, p = 0.04 and Beta = -0.12, p = 0.02, respectively). No other associations were observed. Conclusions and Implications: YA cancer survivors reported more social isolation than older adults during the COVID-19 pandemic, though differences were small and not clinically meaningful. Future studies should identify patient characteristics associated with high social isolation and low social support to identify subgroups that may benefit from intervention.