Socialization of Coping in Pediatric Oncology Settings: Theoretical Consideration on Parent–Child Connections in Posttraumatic Growth

Abstract

This theoretical article aims to summarize the results of studies relevant to parental influence on coping with childhood cancer and provide implications for future research focused on parent-child connections in posttraumatic growth (PTG) following childhood cancer. Parental influence on child coping described by the socialization of coping and socialization of emotions theories has already been studied in connection with posttraumatic stress, but the role of parents in the process of PTG in the child has not been clearly described yet. Several studies focused on PTG in childhood cancer survivors and their parents simultaneously, but only two studies explicitly included a parent-child connection in PTG in statistical analysis. Studies suggest that child PTG may be facilitated through parental coping advice supporting emotion expression and that parent-child connection in PTG may be mediated by the child's subjective perception of the parents' PTG. More research is needed to describe specific strategies proposed by parents and leading to child PTG and design tailored interventions for the use in the clinical care of childhood cancer survivors and their family.

Concordance of Child Self-Reported and Parent Proxy-Reported Posttraumatic Growth in Childhood Cancer Survivors

“…Parents may shape the process and outcomes of child psychosocial adaptation, including both PTS and PTG, through the socialization of coping and emotions (for review, see Koutná and Blatný [12]). They serve as the key sources of social support for childhood cancer survivors [13] and, simultaneously, they can be used as sources of information when the child is unwilling or unable to provide relevant information on their own (due to health complications or insufficient cognitive maturity).…”