Abstract
Framed by the Communication Theory of Resilience (CTR) and intersectionality framework, this explanatory sequential mixed-methods study examined how family cancer caregivers with diverse identities experience and enact communicative resilience. In Phase 1, a U.S.-based online survey (N = 240) assessed caregivers’ resilience and posttraumatic growth (PTG), producing four profiles: Vulnerable Reflectors (high PTG-low resilience), Survival Seekers (low PTG-high resilience), Adaptive Strivers (high PTG-high resilience), and At-Risk Strugglers (low PTG-low resilience). In Phase 2, twenty semi-structured interviews were conducted across these profiles to explore resilience triggers, resilience processes, and coping strategies.
Findings revealed five common resilience triggers that intersected across gender, race/ethnicity, and socioeconomic status, often emerging simultaneously rather than sequentially. While some communicative processes stabilized caregivers, others created additional strain when structural resources were lacking. Notably, resilience and PTG followed divergent patterns. High PTG was often rooted in meaning-making through relational talk, whereas high resilience centered on routine-based coping. Based on these findings, we propose the concept of resilience-switching—the fluid movement between anticipatory and reactive caregiving responses—as a micro-temporal mechanism within the resilience construct. This concept refines CTR by emphasizing temporal flexibility and structural constraints in communicative adaptation.
Together, the results suggest that resilience is not a uniform process but one shaped by identity, context, and communicative access. The study offers theoretical contributions to CTR and practical guidance for tailoring intervention tools for diverse family cancer caregivers.