Abstract
The intensive and long-lasting experience of childhood cancer is a tremendous stressor for the parental relationship. We aimed to (1) compare civil status and partner relationship of parents of long-term childhood cancer survivors with population-based comparisons, (2) identify cancer-related characteristics associated with not being married, and (3) evaluate the quality of the partner relationship. We sent questionnaires to parents of survivors aged ≤16years at diagnosis and ≥20years at study. Population-based comparisons were derived from a random sample of the general population (≥1 child aged ≥20years) and standardized by sociodemographic characteristics of survivor parents. We used logistic regression to identify cancer-related characteristics associated with not being married. The quality of the partner relationship was evaluated using the relationship-specific attachment scale for adults assessing the dimensions security (secure-fearful) and dependency (dependent-independent). A total of 784 parents (58.9% mothers) of 512 survivors (response rate: 44.0%) and 471 comparison parents completed the questionnaire. Parents of survivors were less often divorced/separated (9.0% vs 17.5%, P<0.001) and more often in a partner relationship (89.9% vs 85.0%, P=0.010) than comparisons. Not being married was not associated with cancer-related characteristics. Parents of survivors reported similar security (P=0.444) but higher dependency (P=0.032) within the partner relationship than comparisons. In both populations, fathers indicated higher security and dependency than mothers. Long after the diagnosis of cancer in their child, parents' relationship appears similar as in parents of the general population. The increased dependency reported by parents of survivors suggests that they managed their child's disease as a team.
Highlights
Even years after successful treatment, parents may experience uncertainties related to cancer relapse or late effects and continue to play an active role in the childs long-term care[6,7]
Cancer-related characteristics were similar between survivors with participating and nonparticipating parents (Supplementary table 2; all P>0.05)
This study highlights that parenting a child with cancer does not adversely affect parentscivil status or partner relationship in the long term
Summary
Even years after successful treatment, parents may experience uncertainties related to cancer relapse or late effects and continue to play an active role in the childs long-term care[6,7]. A majority of parents indicated that they felt well prepared for the child’s cancer treatment, fewer reported feeling prepared for the life after cancer[8]. This points towards a persistent impact on parentspsycho-social functioning including the partner relationship even years after the childs recovery. The longterm impact of childhood cancer on the partner relationship from the perspectives of both parents remains largely unknown[5]. In this population-based questionnaire survey, we aimed to i) compare the civil status and partner relationship of parents of long-term childhood cancer survivors aged ≥20 years with comparison parents of the general population of Switzerland, ii) identify cancer-related characteristics associated with not-being married, and iii) evaluate the quality of the partner relationship
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