Beyond Mothers and Children: Finding the Family in Pediatric Psychology

Fathers of Children With Cancer: A Descriptive Synthesis of the Literature

“…Resisting the tendency to accept mothers' assessments of fathers' availability, interest, or emotional status removes the potential for assigning fathers more peripheral roles in their child's therapy. Obtaining information directly from fathers, independently, may provide valuable information about family functioning, family beliefs and values, as well as lending credence to their sense of anguish around their child's diagnosis (Brody & Simmons, 2007;Seagull, 2000;von Essen et al, 2004). Social workers can advocate for these strategies for fathers of children with cancer.…”

“…Historically, fathers have lower participation rates in studies of parents of children with cancer, and have been underrepresented in pediatric studies in general Liaschenko & Underwood, 2001;Phares, Lopez, Fields, Kamboukos, & Duhig, 2005;Seagull, 2000). Although there have been gains made in examining the role of fathers in children's social, academic, intellectual, cognitive, and language development (Lamb, 2004;Pruett, 1998;Tamis-LeMonda & Cabrera, 2002), there are fewer studies that examine the effects of a child's diagnosis and treatment of cancer on fathers specifically.…”

Maternal, paternal, and family health-related quality of life in the context of pediatric inflammatory bowel disease

“…Moreover, past studies have relied almost exclusively on samples of mothers, and only one study to date was identified that examined paternal adjustment separately from maternal adjustment [9]. The nearly exclusive focus on mothering is a significant shortcoming in research examining caregiving in the context of IBD in light of evidence from other chronic childhood conditions that mothers and fathers may be affected differently by the presence of a child with a chronic medical condition [11][12][13][14][15]. Variations in the impact of pediatric illness on maternal and paternal functioning and parental responses to illness demands highlight the importance of considering the impact of youth illness on mothers and fathers independently.…”

A Telephone Support Group Intervention for Non-HIV-Infected Fathers of HIV-Infected Children

“…Elizabeth A. Seagull (2000), a pediatric psychologist, recently called for researchers and clinicians to consider the critical role that fathers play within families. She states, ".…”