According to the American Cancer Society (2020), it is estimated that 1.8 million new cancer diagnoses will occur in 2019 in the United States. Due to the frequency of cancer diagnoses and the increasing costs of treatment, financial stress is common among cancer patients. Guided by the Family Systems Illness Model (FSI), a cross-sectional study of individuals and family members where there was an active cancer diagnosis (n = 53) was conducted. The study utilized structural equation modeling to examine the impact of cancer stress and financial stress on maladaptive family coping mechanisms, and in turn, their effect on family communication and satisfaction. Findings indicate individuals with higher financial stress reported greater cancer stress. In turn, individuals with higher cancer stress, reported higher rigidity in their family coping which was associated with less family satisfaction. Additionally, as individuals reported greater family disengagement and chaos, lower levels of family communication and satisfaction were found. These findings provide evidence to the complex stresses experienced by cancer patients and their families. Therapeutic implications of how emotionally focused therapy may support these families dealing with a cancer diagnosis are discussed.

根据美国癌症协会（2020）的数据，预计 2019 年美国将新增 180 万例癌症诊断。由于癌症诊断的频率和治疗费用的增加，癌症患者普遍面临经济压力。在家庭系统疾病模型 (FSI) 的指导下，对患有活跃癌症诊断的个人和家庭成员 (n = 53) 进行了横断面研究。该研究利用结构方程模型来研究癌症压力和经济压力对适应不良的家庭应对机制的影响，以及它们对家庭沟通和满意度的影响。研究结果表明，经济压力较高的人报告的癌症压力更大。反过来，癌症压力较高的人在家庭应对方面也表现出较高的僵化性，这与家庭满意度较低有关。此外，随着个人报告家庭脱离和混乱程度增加，家庭沟通和满意度也随之降低。这些发现为癌症患者及其家人所经历的复杂压力提供了证据。讨论了情感聚焦疗法如何支持这些处理癌症诊断的家庭的治疗意义。