An Examination of Parenting Capacity Variables and Child Adjustment Outcomes Across Socioeconomic Level in Pediatric Cancer

Abstract

The objective of this article is to investigate how parenting capacities and child outcomes vary across different indexes of socioeconomic status (SES; e.g., composite vs. single dimension) in a sample of families of children with pediatric cancer. Parents provided demographic information for the Hollingshead Index of Social Position, the Parent Protection Scale (PPS), the Child Vulnerability Scale (CVS), the Parenting Stress Index/Short Form (PSI/SF), and the Behavior Assessment System for Children–Second Edition, Parent Rating Scale. Only the PPS differed by composite social status on the Hollingshead Index. Both the PPS and the PSI/SF varied as a function of lower parent education and family income, whereas the CVS was impacted only by lower parent education level. Child externalizing and internalizing problems were influenced only by lower family income. Results highlight the variability in parent and child adjustment outcomes based on the manner in which SES is measured in families of children with cancer.