Family Communication About Cancer in Korea: A Dyadic Analysis of Parent-Adolescent Conversation

Parent-adolescent communication is important in the context of childhood cancer. However, we know little about the communication experiences between Korean adolescents and their parents. Here, we conducted a secondary analysis of interview data from a qualitative descriptive study to explore Korean parent-adolescent communication experiences as a unit. Specifically, our dyadic analysis of individual interviews with seven Korean adolescents with cancer and at least one parent included inductive analysis at the individual level and cross-analysis to generate themes. The main theme was “Experience the same thing, but see it differently,” along three subthemes: (1) different expectations for parent-adolescent communication, (2) different views on communication challenges, and (3) limited sharing and no progress in the conversation. Overall, our findings provide insights into different communication expectations and preferences between Korean adolescents and parents, and reasons for communication challenges, while emphasizing the individualized assessment of parent-adolescent communication between them.