Financial and Social Effects on Children and Adolescents when a Parent is Diagnosed with Cancer

The well-being of children impacted by a parent with cancer: an integrative review

“…Fewer parents reported behavioral problems in their children than the children's teachers reported [18], and parents underestimated the number of problems experienced by adolescent daughters [29]. In contrast, evidence showed that adolescents and mothers reported comparable problems [58], whereas other evidence indicated that parents reported more emotional and behavioral problems in their children than their children's self-report indicated [22]. More research is needed to investigate the discrepancies between parents' reports on their children and children's self-reports.…”

“…Further complicating this was that parents received little guidance from health professionals in regard to communication [1,16] and support [34,55,59]. Such support from health professionals would likely assist parents in identifying and acknowledging their children's distress [4,7,17,18,24,26,29,30,58]. Evidently, knowledge regarding how to best support parents with cancer and their children is available.…”

“…Regardless, it appeared that older children had more responsibilities, including financial [58]. Older children were also focused more on their parents' well-being than their own [58] and were significant informal caregivers [58]. Alternatively, in two studies, age did not mediate psychosocial problems [64] or totality of problems [32].…”

“…This was more noticeable among fathers [24,58], which is reiterated in a 2007 [4] and 2012 review [7]. Adults bereaved by a parent's cancer and suicide reported normal or high levels of social competence and normal or low levels of behavioral problems in their children [17], whereas the children in both groups reported high levels of depression [17].…”

“…For older children, internalizing problems were more prevalent [28], as was a reduced quality of life [59], although one study suggested that older children experienced less problems in response to parental cancer, due to their advanced capabilities and independence [28]. Regardless, it appeared that older children had more responsibilities, including financial [58]. Older children were also focused more on their parents' well-being than their own [58] and were significant informal caregivers [58].…”