Starting the Conversation: Communication Between Mothers and Adult Sons About the Breast Cancer Experienc

Mother-son communication about the breast cancer experience is a critically important issue in health and interpersonal communication research. Relational Dialectics Theory offers a lens through which to understand the dialectical tensions that emerge in mothers' communication with their adult sons about breast cancer. Through interviews with mothers who have had breast cancer, this study uncovered two themes: a mother protects her child and breast cancer as a gendered discourse. These themes were marked with the dialectical tensions of openness and closedness, strength and vulnerability, independence and interdependence, and breast cancer as a family issue and breast cancer as a women's health issue. This study offers relevant knowledge about the tensions that emerge in mothers' communication with their adult sons about breast cancer. It also seeks to understand how mothers and sons make sense of the breast cancer experience and what it means for the mother-son relationship. Future research can offer insights on sons' perspectives of their mothers' breast cancer experiences, communication differences about breast cancer with minor and adult children, and a spouse or partner's absence during the breast cancer experience.