Abstract
Parents’ attitudes and practices may support the children’s reactions to treatments for leukaemia and their general adjustment. This study has two aims: to explore parenting depending on the child’s age and to develop and test a model on how family processes influence the psycho-social development of children with leukaemia. Patients were 118 leukemic children and their parents recruited at the Haematology–Oncologic Clinic of the Department of Paediatrics, University of Padua. All parents were Caucasian with a mean age of 37.39 years (SD = 6.03). Children’s mean age was 5.89 years (SD = 4.21). After the signature of the informed consent, the parents were interviewed using the EFI-C from which we derived Parenting dimension and three parental perceptions on the child’s factors. One year later, the clinical psychologist interviewed again parents using the Vineland Adaptive Behavior Scales (VABS). The analyses revealed the presence of a significant difference in parenting by the child’s age: Infants required a higher and more intensive parenting. The child’s coping with medical procedures at the second week after the diagnosis, controlled for parenting effect, impacted upon the child’s adaptation one-year post diagnosis. Specific intervention programmes are proposed in order to help children more at risk just after the diagnosis of developmental delays.
Highlights
Accepted: 2 June 2021The main task of parenting is to give care
Preservation refers to the way parents influence the child’s perception of his/her life, contributing to his/her coping and willingness to undergo treatment, to maximise the chances for survival [7]. In this sense, parenting can be a resource that help children cope with the several daily painful procedures, in order to have a better adaptive behaviour when the therapy cycles become less intensive, and the children can return to some normal developmental activities
We think that a general dimension such as Parenting assessed at the beginning of the child’s hospitalisations and treatments, can be an important mediator that impacts upon the child’s early coping with medical procedures and upon the child’s behavioural adaptation one year post diagnosis
Summary
The main task of parenting is to give care. Caring for children involves responsibility for their well-being and knowledge about their needs and how to accommodate them. Preservation refers to the way parents influence the child’s perception of his/her life, contributing to his/her coping and willingness to undergo treatment, to maximise the chances for survival [7] In this sense, parenting can be a resource that help children cope with the several daily painful procedures, in order to have a better adaptive behaviour when the therapy cycles become less intensive, and the children can return to some normal developmental activities. When a child has cancer, parents enter a world where the terrain is unfamiliar and their basic childrearing tasks are challenged Problems such as overprotectiveness, difficulty with consistent discipline and expression of appropriate concerns about “spoiling” the child, can occur in parenting tasks [9]. The present study seeks insight into the parenting practices in caring for their child with leukaemia
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