Posttraumatic growth and adverse long-term effects of parental cancer in children.

Abstract

This study examined the long-term impact of parental cancer during childhood. Nineteen female and 8 male adults who had a parent with terminal or nonterminal cancer during childhood participated in face-to-face interviews during which they discussed how their parent's cancer affected their lives. Their interview responses were transcribed and analyzed using a constant comparative method of analysis. Posttraumatic growth experiences were reported by 44% of participants, and 59% reported adverse consequences. Future research should examine ways to identify factors that can help affected children experience posttraumatic growth while minimizing the adverse consequences of having a parent with cancer.

Posttraumatic growth within the first three months after accidental injury in China: The role of self-disclosure, cognitive processing, and psychosocial resources

“…The Multi-dimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support (MSPSS; Zimet, Dahlem, Zimet, & Farley, 1988) is a 12-item measure of the amount of perceived social support from outside resources, including friends, family members, and significant others; it uses a Likert 7-point scale of 1 = very strongly disagree to 7 = strongly agree. The Chinese version of the MSPSS has acceptable reliability (Chan, Yu, & Li, 2011;Wong, Cavanaugh, Macleamy, Sojourner-Nelson, & Koopman, 2009), with Cronbach's α = .85 in this study.…”

Cancer and the family: assessment, communication and brief interventions—the development of an educational programme for healthcare professionals when a parent has cancer

“…Participants described a deeper level of understanding and awareness of the individual needs of families when a parent has cancer and the protective role of communication within families 7 9. They gained a more complex psychological understanding of patient and family members' experiences, behaviours, beliefs and emotional responses through the consideration of past events, contextual factors and systemic principles around family functioning and roles.…”

“…Children contend with the disruption of family roles and routines, the temporary loss of the parent due to symptoms and treatment side effects and the threat of parental loss 6. Family members are susceptible to distress and can experience clinical levels of stress, anxiety and depression,7 8 which can lead to long-standing issues 9. Poor family functioning and restricted communication are strongly associated with higher levels of psychological morbidity in families,10 independent from disease characteristics 11.…”

Psychological Distress Among Adolescents Living with a Parent with Advanced Cancer

“…Buchbinder et al (2009) argued that by adopting a strength perspective and by focusing on changes in family life instead of a pathological point of view of psychosocial dysfunction, researchers and clinicians may help families to prevent difficulties rather than just respond to them. Another recent study has shown that in the long term, even though the majority (59%) of people report some negative effects of their parent's cancer on their life, some also report positive effects (15%), whereas many others report only positive effects (44%), feeling that they have grown in specific ways (Wong, Cavanaugh, Macleamy, Sojourner-Nelson, & Koopman, 2009). To prevent long-term negative effects of parental cancer on adolescents, it is important for adolescents to be part of their parent's journey, to receive detailed and understandable information in a timely fashion, soon after every important step in the parental care trajectory and as the illness progresses (Kristjanson, Chalmers, & Woodgate, 2004).…”