Developing a Scale to Measure Parental Worry and Their Attitudes Toward Childhood Cancer After Successful Completion of Treatment

Abstract

The purpose of this study is to develop and evaluate the psychometric characteristics of a scale designed to measure parents' attitude toward childhood cancer after treatment has ended. In this study, the 2 theoretical frameworks (theory of attitude and theory of worry) were used as they related to the study. An attitude is an idea charged with negative or positive emotion, directed to a psychological object, such as cancer. A sample of 84 White, middle class, American parents (n = 49 mothers, n = 35 fathers) of 51 childhood cancer survivors, whose treatment ended between 1988 and 2005, was surveyed between November 2005 and February 2006. Two factors were extracted using principal component analysis with oblique rotation. Cronbach's alpha reliability for Factor 1 was .91 and for Factor 2 was .76. This study suggests that most parents of cancer survivors tend to perseverate, ruminating on the idea that their child's cancer will return; as a result, they remain in a heightened state of alertness and develop uncontrollable thoughts, or inconsolable worry, about the recurrence of the disease.

Parent Outlook: How Parents View the Road Ahead as They Embark on Hematopoietic Stem Cell Transplantation for Their Child

“…We found that impaired parent emotional functioning was strongly associated with worse parent outlook, consistent with previous observations [16,19,45–52]. Such emotional stress and poor adjustment has negative consequences for the parent [48,53] and in turn, the child [54–57].…”

“…The multicenter design and the relatively diverse sample (30% Hispanic or nonwhite), particularly in light of the study population [44,61,62], are other strengths of this study. Finally, this study builds on previous studies that have described parent fear, stress, or impaired psychological functioning during or after HSCT [16,19,45–52], and illustrates specific parental thoughts and thought patterns before their child’s transplantation, deepening our understanding of their lived experience.…”

“…Additional research building on these 2 relatively small studies is needed to deepen our understanding of parent outlook. It is possible that HSCT parents alternatively have persistent, continuous thoughts (ie, rumination) about the danger that might lie ahead [19], or they may, like other parents of children with cancer, contemplate the future but either not dwell on it or actively focus on positive outcomes or aspects of the situation [15,20–24]. Clearly, parents might think about the upcoming transplantation and their child’s future health in a variety of ways.…”

The Experiences of Parents of Pediatric Patients With Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia, 2 Months After Completion of Treatment

“…Assessment of potentially vulnerable parents may involve collaboration with mental health members of the professional team to identify parents that may be at risk for issues with adaptation and coping posttreatment and proactively provide support and psychoeducation. For example, Duran (2011) piloted the Parental Worry and Attitudes Toward Childhood Cancer scale to measure parents’ concerns about recurrence of their child’s cancer with the ultimate goal of intervention development for parents in need. Proactive strategies to avert distress may include staff discussions with parents about what to expect emotionally after active treatment ends and psychoeducation sessions to support parents in their transition.…”

Parenthood and Worrying About Climate Change: The Limitations of Previous Approaches

“…(43) These studies can be divided according to the type of risk investigated. There are risks where the parent has a certain margin of control (44) -food allergies, for example, (25) Internet use, (45) or sexually transmitted diseases (46) -and then there are risks that in many ways are beyond parents' direct control (and are therefore comparable with climate change) such as disease, (47)(48)(49) children with special needs, (50,51) food and eating, (21) school, (52) and the environment. (53,54) It is worries of the latter sort-uncontrollable, confusing, and worrying because of their huge consequences for future generations-that have been as good as ignored in the literature.…”