Emotional and behavioural functioning of children of a parent diagnosed with cancer: a cross-informant perspective

Abstract

This study investigates emotional and behavioural problems in children of parents diagnosed with cancer and examines the relationship with demographic and illness-related variables. Furthermore, agreement and differences between informants regarding child's functioning were examined. Members of 186 families in which a parent had been diagnosed with cancer participated. More emotional problems were reported for latency-aged sons (ill parents) and adolescent daughters (ill parents; self-reports), whereas also better functioning was reported in adolescent children (spouses), compared to the norm group. Age and gender-effects were found: latency-aged sons were perceived as having more emotional problems than adolescent sons (ill parents); adolescent daughters as having more emotional and behavioural problems than adolescent sons (ill parents; self-reports). Results indicated a higher prevalence of problems when the father was ill than when the mother was (spouses and self-reports). The treatment intensity affected adolescent daughter's functioning (spouses), whereas adolescent son's functioning was affected by relapsed disease (self-reports). Adolescents and mothers perceived comparable levels of problems, but fathers perceived problems in children to be less prevalent. Findings suggest that adolescent daughters and latency-aged sons are at risk for emotional problems following the diagnosis of cancer in a parent. The perception of child's functioning and potential influencing variables varied according to informant.

Factors associated with emotional and behavioural problems among school age children of breast cancer patients

“…The YSR and TRF are parallel versions of the original CBCL instrument designed to measure the same variables by each type of informant; for brevity's sake they will all be referred to here as 'CBCL measures'. Following previous studies (Visser et al, 2005;Lewis et al, 2005), Internalising, Externalising and Total Problem scores will be examined here as indices of child problems. For ethical reasons, six items about bowel and sexual problems were omitted from the CBCL.…”

“…Previous research suggests that adolescent children experience most problems (Welch et al, 1996;Birenbaum et al, 1999), with teenage daughters being most at risk (Wellisch et al, 1992;Compas et al, 1994). Visser et al (2005)reported that adolescent daughters were more affected by parent's cancer treatment intensity whereas for boys it was relapse of cancer. However, the evidence on gender differences remains insubstantial given the low number of studies including boys.…”

Use and need for psychosocial support in cancer patients

“…However, to assess children's burden, another perspective might be needed because parents often underestimate their children's distress regarding cancer. 30 The finding that patients reported the highest need for support for their families and children during medical treatment indicates that patients should be screened for distress during this period and should be given brief emotional support on how to talk with children about cancer and its effects on the future. This confirms the need to educate health professionals about the psychological burden of patients' children.…”

A population‐based estimate of cancer survivors residing with minor children

“…For instance, several qualitative studies suggested that children worry about their ill parents more than parents may know, 2,3 use a range of coping strategies to keep life as normal as possible, 2-4 and appreciate communication about the parent's illness. [4][5][6] Largerscale studies using standardized measures have demonstrated that a parent's cancer can be distressing to children of all ages 7,8 and that its impact is partly moderated by family cohesion, communication, the quality of the parents' relationship with each other, and parents' psychosocial functioning (particularly maternal depression). [9][10][11][12][13] There remains a great need for longitudinal research to identify the range of developmental trajectories experienced by children living with a parent's cancer and whether some children, with adequate support, emerge with new strengths such as enhanced problem-solving skills or richer support networks.…”