Table III.

Studies using mixed methods included in the review.

Study, origin	Aims	Inclusion criteria	Sample	Study design, data collection	Related findings
Lewis et al. (2012), USA	To understand psychosocial concerns of young African American BC survivors	(i) Self-identification as African American; (ii) ≥1 year post-diagnosis; (iii) absence of active treatment other than hormonal therapy; (iv) adequate English skills; (v) ≤45 years at diagnosis	n = 33 Mean age at diagnosis: 37.39 (SD = 6.00) (range 25–45 years) Mean age at interview: not stated Length time since diagnosis: not stated Race/ethnicity: 33 (100%) African American	Cross-sectional data from the RCT SPIRIT counselling programme Semi-structured telephone interview after participants completed the 1-year follow-up assessments at SPIRIT	55% had at least 1 child at cancer diagnosis 45% wanted a child at cancer diagnosis (retrospectively) 48% did not recall discussing infertility with medical team 14% (3/22 who had chemotherapy) were offered option to preserve fertility 4 became pregnant after cancer treatment 1 sought infertility treatment, at the time of interview was trying IVF 2 adopted children after cancer
Braun et al. (2005), Israel	Positive and negative motivations towards childbirth of breast cancer survivors and their husbands	Survivors (study group): (i) BC at Stages I–III, without metastasis; (ii) treatment completed at least 2 years prior to the study; (iii) in remission, since then or with only local recurrence; (iv) without other physical or mental illness; (v) ≤40 years old; (vi) premenopausal or no indication of being menopausal; (vii) without children or ≤2 (less than the Israeli average); (viii) Jewish, Hebrew speaking and living in Israel more than 10 years Controls: (i) without other physical or mental illness; (ii) ≤40 years old; (iii) premenopausal or no indication of being menopausal; (iv) without children or ≤2; (v) Jewish, Hebrew speaking and living in Israel more than 10 years	Study group: recruitment in 3 hospitals Control group (healthy women), convenience sample recruited from the community, hospitals and university n = 30 survivors + 13 survivors' husbands Survivors group: 35 years mean age (SD = 3.1) Survivors group (husbands): mean age of 38.2 years (SD = 2.9) Treatment completed: range 2–5 years before study n = 29 controls + 15 controls' husbands Control group: mean age of 31.7 years (SD = 3.9) Control group (husbands): mean age of 35.2 years (SD = 4.9) Details on race/ethnicity not reported	Cross-sectional study BC survivors and husbands compared with healthy women and their husbands Data collection: (1) Qualitative component: participants list 3 reasons against and in favour of having children (2) Quantitative component : PMQ-R EMS BSI IES MAC	Quantitative data: No differences between groups about negative and positive motivations No differences between groups in the desire for children Survivors desired less number of children than controls (F(1,49) = 4.86, P < 0.05) Survivors' husbands desired less number of children than controls (F(1,25) = 16.67, P < 0.001) Qualitative data: Positive motivations BC survivors: Immortality, big family, siblings for their existing children, happiness and giving meaning to life BC survivors' unique positive motivations compared with controls: desire to have siblings for their existing children and strong desire to have a big family. Happiness was less reported compared with controls Negative motivations BC survivors: Mother's health, child's health, financial concerns, personal restrictions and world view. BC survivors unique negative motivations compared with controls: concerns over mother's health (most reported motivation). Concerns over child's health were more reported and pessimistic world view, personal restrictions and immaturity were less reported than in controls Positive motivations not correlated with mental distress. Negative motivations correlated with mental distress only in husbands of BC survivors (r = 0.66, P < 0.05)
					BC did not impede overall positive motivations, nor increased negative motivations towards childbirth

BC, breast cancer; SD, standard deviation; PMQ-R, parenthood motivation questionnaire revised; EMS, ENRICH Marital Satisfaction Scale; BSI, Brief Symptom Inventory; IES, Impact of Event Scale; MAC, Mental Adjustment to Cancer Scale.