Factors Associated with Emotional Distress in Children and Adolescents during Early Treatment for Cancer

Abstract

PurposeChildren and adolescents diagnosed with cancer experience emotional distress, such as sadness, worrying, and irritability. However, there is little information about the psychological well-being of parents at the time of their child's diagnosis. We sought to identify factors that were associated with emotional distress in cancer patients as a basis for developing innovative psychological interventions.Materials and MethodsA retrospective chart review was performed on patients newly diagnosed with cancer at a single center in Korea from 2014 to 2016. Eighty-five patients and their mothers completed psychological inventories. To determine factors associated with emotional distress in patients, we assessed the psychological inventory results using multiple linear regression after performing correlation analysis.ResultsThe maternal Beck Depression Inventory-II (BDI-II) score was positively correlated with total problem scores and externalizing scores in patients aged less than 7 years. In patients aged 7–12 years, there was no significant association between the patient's emotional distress and other variables. In contrast, the maternal BDI-II score was the strongest factor associated with patient depression in adolescents.ConclusionWe suggest that the most important factor affecting emotional distress in children and adolescents with cancer is maternal depression, especially in patients aged 1–6 years and aged 13–17 years. Understanding the factors associated with emotional distress of cancer patients allows us to develop early psychiatric interventions for patients and their parents at the initial psychological crisis.

A Retrospective Observational Study of Problems Faced by Children and Adolescents with Cancer: A 5-year Experience from a Pediatric Psycho-Oncology Service in India

“…A recent retrospective analysis by Sohn et al on variables related to psychological distress experienced by children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer did not find any statistically significant factor. 31 Our finding corroborates with this report. However, Sohn et al 31 mainly focused on maternal depression and not on age, gender, family, disease, treatment, and other parameters that we looked at.…”

“…31 Our finding corroborates with this report. However, Sohn et al 31 mainly focused on maternal depression and not on age, gender, family, disease, treatment, and other parameters that we looked at. Also, the study population was inpatients and within 3 months of the diagnosis, in contrast to the patients referred to our service at any point in their disease trajectory before completion of 2 years of treatment.…”

Prevalence of Anxiety, Depression, and Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder among Children and Adolescents with Cancer: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis

“…Two studies were conducted in South America in Brazil (Coça et al, 2019; Scarpelli et al, 2008). There are 12 studies conducted in Asia, of which three studies in Japan(Sato et al, 2014; Tsuji et al, 2011; Wakimizu et al, 2011), three studies in Taiwan (Tsai et al, 2013; Wu et al, 2013, 2016), two studies in China (Li et al, 2010, 2013b), two studies in South Korea (Kim & Yi, 2013; Sohn et al, 2017), one in Indonesia (Sitaresmi et al, 2008) and one in Iran (Zahed & Koohi, 2020). Nine studies were conducted in Europe, of which three studies in the UK (Canning et al, 2014; D’Urso et al, 2018; Michel et al, 2010), two studies in Switzerland (Gianinazzi et al, 2013; Landolt et al, 2003), two studies in Italy (Adduci et al, 2012; Tremolada et al, 2016), one in the Netherlands (Gordijn et al, 2013), and one in Portugal (Martins et al, 2018).…”

“…However, one study presented the prevalence rate of anxiety and depression (Gianinazzi et al, 2013), and one study presented the prevalence rate of anxiety (Wu et al, 2013). Nine studies included newly diagnosis patients (Bemis et al, 2015; Germann et al, 2015; Gordijn et al, 2013; Landolt et al, 2003; Okado et al, 2018; Rodgers et al, 2019; Sohn et al, 2017; Tsai et al, 2013; Tsuji et al, 2011). Nevertheless, two of these studies provided the prevalence rate of PTSD (Bemis et al, 2015; Landolt et al, 2003).…”

“…The incidence of cancer tends to increase with age, with 400,000 children and adolescents aged 0–19 years old diagnosed with cancer every year (Lam et al, 2019; World Health Organization, 2021b). However, cancer diagnosis and treatment can cause considerable emotional and psychological distress (Akimana et al, 2019; Collins et al, 2002; Sohn et al, 2017). The presence of psychological and emotional morbidities is considered an important indicator of a patient's well-being (Wu et al, 2016).…”