Family Members Dealing With Childhood Cancer: A Study on the Role of Family Functioning and Cancer Appraisal

Abstract

Objectives Childhood cancer is a life-threatening disease that poses significant challenges to the life of the diagnosed child and his/her family members. Based on the ABCX-model, the aim of the current study was to explore the association between family functioning, cancer appraisal and the individual adjustment of patients, parents and siblings. Methods Participants were 60 children with leukemia or non-Hodgkin lymphoma, 172 parents and 78 siblings (115 families). Time since diagnosis varied from zero to 33 months. Patients, parents and siblings completed the Family Environment Scale (FES), Perceived Stress Scale, Situation-Specific Emotional Reactions Questionnaire and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory/Maudsley Marital Questionnaire. Results Family functioning and the appraisal of the cancer diagnosis proved to be related to patients’, parents’ and siblings’ cancer-related emotions and quality of life post-diagnosis. In addition, family members differed in their perception of some family functioning domains, the appraisal of the cancer diagnosis, positive feelings and quality of life. Discussion Our findings led to the conclusion that family functioning and the appraisal of the cancer diagnosis are important for the individual adjustment of patients, parents and siblings when facing a diagnosis of cancer in the child. Differences across members within one family and differences between families speak to the need of screening all family members and intervening at the level of individual as well as the family unit.

Siblings Dealing with Pediatric Cancer: A Family- and Context-oriented Approach

“…Our findings indicate that both family functioning (emotional closeness & family structure), family support and network support matter for bon-adjustment in siblings being confronted with childhood cancer. This is in line with our prediction and with previous studies on family functioning (Van Schoors, 2017;2019b) and support (Brown, Madan-Swain & Lambert, 2003;Dolgin et al, 1997) in the context of childhood cancer.…”

“…More specifically, we focused on family functioning as a first intrafamilial resource. There is abundant empirical evidence that the way in which the family as a whole deals with and responds to childhood cancer ('family functioning') impacts the adjustment of the siblings (Long, Marsland & Alderfer, 2013;Van Schoors et al, 2017;2019b). For example, families need to redefine their relationships, communicate effectively (i.e., "emotional closeness within the family") and flexibly renegotiate roles and responsibilities (i.e., "family structure") to accommodate the demands of cancer, and poorly functioning families who struggle with these demands may be at risk for adjustment problems in all family members, including siblings (Long et al, 2013;Van Schoors et al, 2017;2019b).…”

“…Pediatric cancer is a severe life-threatening disease with every year 300,000 new diagnoses worldwide (Steliarova-Foucher et al, 2017). Given the highly interdependent nature of family relationships, all family members, including siblings, are impacted by the illness (Van Schoors et al, 2019b). Previous studies showed that siblings of children with cancer often suffer from the absence of their parents and their ill brother/sister at home, changes in their day-to-day routines (e.g., grandparents taking over parental roles) and increasing household chores and responsibilities (Van Schoors et al, 2019a;Alderfer et al, 2010).…”

Family Adjustment When Facing Pediatric Cancer: The Role of Parental Psychological Flexibility, Dyadic Coping, and Network Support

“…In other words, in predicting family adjustment, researchers should take into account who (individual characteristics of the parent) is reporting, as well as the family s/he belongs to. This is in line with a recent study on the individual adjustment of family members (patients, mothers, fathers, and siblings) facing pediatric cancer (Van Schoors et al, 2019a).…”

The Effects of the COVID-19 Pandemic on ESL Learners and TESOL Practitioners in the United States

“…This model has been used to produce important insights about stressors and crises in a wide variety of research for more than a half century. Recent study has included areas such as employee resilience (Conley, et al, 2016), sociocultural issues (McNeil Smith & Landor, 2018;Murry, et al, 2018), romantic relationships (Simpson, 2017), domestic violence (Boateng, 2017), the effects of cancer (Karikari & Boateng, 2019;Van Schoors, et al, 2019), mental disability and illness (Dunn, et al 2019;Rizki, et al, 2018), and stresses associated with military service (Quichocho & Lucier-Greer, 2019;Ross, et al, 2020;Vagharseyyedin, et al, 2017).…”