title: Exploring gender and identity issues among female adolescent and young adults who connect in an anonymous platform.
abstract: There has been an increased usage of online cancer support groups as a resource for health-related information and social support. This work analyzes message blog posts from an anonymous online support community to better understand issues related to gender and identity among female adolescent and young adults. This work sheds further light into the nuances of gender and identity issues including motherhood and reproductive issues, physical appearance, and romantic relationships. Specifically, findings reveal that female adolescent and young adults experience issues pertaining to infertility, feeling like a bad mom, hair loss, scarring, dating, and intimacy. These findings of this work offer further guidance about how healthcare providers and caregivers can attempt to meet the needs of female adolescent and young adults.
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
authors.forename: Kathrynn
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Pounders
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
authors.forename: Kirsten
authors.initials: K
authors.lastname: Stowers
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
authors.forename: Gary
authors.initials: G
authors.lastname: Wilcox
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
authors.forename: Brad
authors.initials: B
authors.lastname: Love
authors.affiliation: The University of Texas at Austin, USA.
authors.forename: Michael
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Mackert
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D057218:Blogging / Q000706:statistics & numerical data*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D012649:Self Concept; D012944:Social Support; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology / Q000706:statistics & numerical data; D014930:Women / Q000523:psychology*; D055815:Young Adult
keywords: adolescence; cancer; females; gender; identity