Abstract
The purpose of this study was to explore the association between psychosocial functioning of children treated for cancer and that of their parents. Factors associated with psychosocial functioning were also examined. The present study was a cross-sectional survey of 33 mothers and one father (mean age: 37.9), each of whom had a child that had been treated for cancer. The participants answered a package of questionnaires consisting of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R), the Parent Experience of Child Illness (PECI), and the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL). Information about the children’s illnesses was collected from medical records. The CBCL total problems T score was correlated with the parental IES-R total scores. Intensity of treatment independently predicted the variance of parental long-term uncertainty. In conclusion, psychosocial problems of children with cancer were associated with parental post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Provision of early, adequate support to parents who are vulnerable to PTSS will help not only the parents, but also their children with cancer.
Highlights
Survival rates for childhood cancer diagnosed before the age of 18 years have improved due to aggressive multidisciplinary therapeutic approaches
T score in the present study was similar to that reported by Barrera et al for children diagnosed within the past three months (52.5 ̆ 10.9) and to that reported in a study of children diagnosed with cancer, excluding brain tumor, within the past four months (49.5 ̆ 12.0), all within the clinically relevant range [5,31]
The proportion of parents having post-traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in the present study was similar to that of a previous study in Japan reported by Ozono
Summary
Survival rates for childhood cancer diagnosed before the age of 18 years have improved due to aggressive multidisciplinary therapeutic approaches. With the improvement of survival rates, much attention has been focused on the psychosocial functioning of children with cancer. Most research into psychosocial functioning in children with cancer has shown that symptoms of depression and anxiety decreased over time [1,2,3,4]. There is some evidence that behavioral difficulties in these children were slightly increased compared to healthy children [5]. Research into psychosocial functioning in adults surviving childhood cancer revealed that certain. Res. Public Health 2016, 13, 812; doi:10.3390/ijerph13080812 www.mdpi.com/journal/ijerph
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