Posttraumatic stress disorder and cancer: Secondary victims

Abstract

Abstract Chapter 4 continues the theme of cancer-related posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and examines the research findings that suggest that this form of PTSD can also affect patients’ family members. Children’s cancer can affect their parents who show PTSD symptoms. The parents’ PTSD symptoms may also be related to those of their children. The risk factors for PTSD or posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in parents who have survived childhood cancer are then described. These factors appear to be related to survivors’ subjective perceptions of cancer, uncertainty about the disease, loss of control, threats to life, and intensity of treatment. Rumination and coping strategies are also related to PTSD in parents. Some studies seem to have focused on the maternal burden of childhood cancer, while recognising that both fathers and mothers tend to react differently to their children’s cancer. In addition to parents, this chapter also describes research on the impact of a parent’s cancer on family members. As children grow up, they may still use avoidance strategies to cope with the effects of childhood trauma. In addition to children, the literature also describes the impact of cancer on partners and siblings. The chapter ends with some descriptions of different types of interventions for parents of children with cancer, as well as interventions specifically designed for siblings of children with cancer and for patients and partners.