Posttraumatic stress symptoms in Chinese children with ongoing cancer treatment and their parents: Are they elevated relative to healthy comparisons?

Abstract

Objective The objective of this work is to compare posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) between families of children on cancer treatment and families of healthy children in China and to analyse the association among child PTSS, parent PTSS, and depression in the cancer group. Methods Participants were children on cancer treatment (n = 91) and their parents (n = 91), and healthy children (n = 114) and their parents (n = 96). The children were asked to self‐report PTSS, and the parents completed self‐reported measures of PTSS and depression. Results Although the prevalence of probable PTSD in children on cancer treatment was higher than that in comparisons (8.79% vs. 0.88%, P < 0.01), no statistic differences in PTSS levels were found between the two groups (P > 0.05). However, significant differences in PTSS levels and the prevalence of severe PTSS (21.98% vs. 1.04%) between parents of children with cancer and comparisons were observed (P < 0.001). Parent PTSS and depression were positively associated with child PTSS in the cancer group (P < 0.01). Conclusion The prevalence of probable PTSD in Chinese children with cancer was low, but PTSS was remarkably prevalent in their parents. Greater parent PTSS and depression were related to greater child PTSS. Results underline the importance to provide supportive psychological care for Chinese parents of children undergoing cancer treatment.

Efficacy of a smartphone-based care support programme in improving post-traumatic stress in families with childhood cancer: protocol of a randomised controlled trial

“… 27 The Chinese version of the PTSD-RI has shown good psychometric performance in adolescents aged 7–18 years, with a Cronbach’s α of 0.892. 4 …”

“…27 The Chinese version of Open access the PTSD-RI has shown good psychometric performance in adolescents aged 7-18 years, with a Cronbach's α of 0.892. 4 The PTSS of caregivers will be assessed at each time point (T0-T4) with the IES-R, 28 29 which consists of 22 items reflecting intrusive thoughts, avoidant behaviours and hyperarousal related to stressful life events as specified in the DSM-Ⅳ. A five-point scale from 1 (never) to 5 (all the time) will be used by the caregivers when scoring the frequency of symptoms experienced during the past month.…”

“…The main sessions will be conducted sequentially on 4 weekend days with the groups of participant families. Sessions 1 and 2 will focus on the use of cognitive–behavioural principles in reducing individual and family distress,4 17 and sessions 3 and 4 will be conducted using a multifamily discussion group format,16 which invites participating families to engage with common themes and provides a structure in which participants can observe the discussions of other families 8. Discussions will prompt families to discuss topics that they rarely talk about openly.…”

“…The cartoon will depict a potentially upsetting memory that is related to cancer diagnosis and treatment. 4 Then, the children and their primary caregivers will be asked to fill in a reflection worksheet according to their actual situations.…”

“…Being diagnosed with cancer is a traumatic event for children and their families, 3 and long and painful therapeutic courses after diagnosis cause extremely distressful and traumatic experiences with far-reaching psychological aftermath. 4 The families of children with cancer might suffer from severe psychosocial problems, including depression, anxiety, adjustment difficulties, post-traumatic stress, decreased family functioning and reduced health-related quality of life (QOL), 5 6 especially post-traumatic stress disorder and related symptoms (PTSD/PTSS), which are frequently reported psychological consequences faced by paediatric oncology patients and their caregivers. 7 The construct of PTSS/PTSD provides a means for understanding psychological distress in these families.…”