Chronic Sorrow in Mothers of Children With Cancer

Abstract

Chronic sorrow, a progressive, persistent, and endless feeling of grief, is seen in parents of children with chronic diseases. This study aimed to investigate chronic sorrow in mothers of children with cancer in selected hospitals in Tehran, Iran. It also sought to clarify the relationships between chronic sorrow and some demographic characteristics. In this descriptive, cross-sectional study, 264 mothers attending 3 pediatric teaching hospitals in Tehran were selected using convenience sampling. The subjects completed a demographic questionnaire and Kendall Chronic Sorrow Questionnaire (Persian version). Data were analyzed with descriptive and inferential (Mann-Whitney and Kruskal-Wallis tests) statistics in SPSS 16.0. The mean score on the Kendall Chronic Sorrow Questionnaire was 76.39 ± 15.81. Chronic sorrow was likely present or present in 97.7% of the mothers (n = 252). The mean scores on the Disparity, Sadness, and Getting Along subscales were 30.26 ± 104.209, and 33.38 ± 42.777, respectively, and the mean score for coping was 12.75 ± 11.922. The relationships between most demographic characteristics and scores on the Kendall Chronic Sorrow Questionnaire were not significant. Chronic sorrow is a concept experienced by families of children with cancer. The health care provider's knowledge about this concept and its components can facilitate the development of better support and treatment programs and lead to improved quality of life for children and their families.

A Qualitative Approach to Find Nursing Diagnoses for Non-Physical Health Problems in Mothers of Children with Cancer

“…Participating mothers frequently expressed the obsession over the death of child, which is consistent with the results of other studies (35,36). Chronic sorrow or episodic presence of behaviors like worriedness and sadness, concern and discomfort at the time of some events like a death of another child in hospital or cancer recurrence in their own child, are what most of mothers of children with cancer experience (37).…”

Experience of chronic sorrow in mothers of children with cancer: A phenomenological study

“…In the first quantitative part of the study, 264 mothers of children with cancer from three tertiary specialized children hospitals in Tehran with oncology wards filled out the validated Persian version of the Kendal Chronic Sorrow Instrument (KCSI) (Nikfarid et al, 2015). Inclusion criteria for participants of the quantitative section were: Being mothers of children whose cancer, whatever the type, had been diagnosed within the last six months; not having any history of mental disorders, such as depression and mothers whose children did not have any other chronic diseases.…”

Caring power of mothers who have a child with cancer and its predictors

“…Caring for a patient with cancer, especially in advanced stages, and observing the patient's pain and suffering causes a lot of stress for family care givers (22). Cancer children's mothers are more likely to face challenges because of the nature of cancer, which is associated with a higher risk of death, recurrence, and hospitalization (5) and awareness of mother's caring power can be helpful in care planning (22). Therefore, the present study was conducted with the aim of assessing the caring power and the predictors of the caring power among this population.…”

“…Cancer in Iran is responsible for the mortality of 4% of childern aged less than 5 years old and 13% of children aged 5 to 15 years (4). The cancer-related challenges for the family and the uncertain prognosis of this disease distinguish it from other chronic children's diseases (5). Caring for a cancer patient, especially in advanced stages and observing his/her pain and suffering make family care-givers experience a great deal of tension (6).…”

“…In other words, caring power can be influenced by some of the characteristics of the care provider, and identifying these features seems necessary in order to improve care power. Therefore, by determining the care power of the mothers of the children with cancer and their needs in this area (5), as well as identifying the factors that are somehow considered as caring power predictors affecting their care power, it will be possible to use interventions to empower them in caring for a child with cancer (25). Since determining the mother's care power is considered as a prerequisite for her empowerment in caring for a child with cancer, this study was conducted with the purpose of determining the care power and its predictive factors among mothers of children with cancer.…”