Concordance of parent proxy report and child self‐report of posttraumatic stress in children with cancer and healthy children: influence of parental posttraumatic stress

Abstract

Objective This study examined the relationships between parental posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS), child PTSS, and parent-child concordance for child PTSS. Method Participants were children with cancer (n = 199) and healthy children (n = 108) and their parents. Children self-reported on PTSS and parents completed measures of child and parent PTSS. Results In the cancer group, child and parent report of child PTSS were significantly correlated with no mean differences between reporters. In contrast, correlations were non-significant in the control group, and parents reported significantly lower levels of child PTSS than children. Increased parental PTSS was associated with better concordance in the cancer group, but not in the control group. In fact, in the cancer group, parent-child concordance was strongest at the highest level of parental PTSS. Conclusions Parents of children with cancer were found to be accurate reporters of their children’s distress, even with high levels of reported personal distress. In contrast, parents of healthy children appear primarily influenced by personal distress when reporting child PTSS. Although multiple informant assessments are always desirable, it appears that utilization of a single informant may be reasonable in the cancer setting when access to informants is limited.

Posttraumatic stress in young children with cancer: Risk factors and comparison with healthy peers

“…Interestingly, caregivers’ own PTSS were not related to child PTSS. Though this finding appears surprising, previous research has found caregiver's reports of their child's PTSS was not related to their own PTSS in a population of older youth with cancer …”

“…Though this remains a concern for this study and research on children <8 years of age more broadly, it is important to note that previous research found consistency between caregiver reports of child's distress and youth's reports of their own distress among pediatric cancer patients. 36…”

Standards of Psychosocial Care for Parents of Children With Cancer

“…Data reflecting elevations in distress are based primarily on self‐report questionnaires compared to either measure norms or control groups comprised of parents of healthy children or parents of children with other acute or chronic conditions . Data from these studies indicate that a subset of PCC is at risk for marked or prolonged distress or psychopathology.…”

Food Security Status and Hair Cortisol among Low-income Mother-Child Dyads

“…Previous literature has focused on the relationship between food security status and self-reported stress. Given the children’s young age, they may not be able to reliably report their own stress, and proxy-reported stress is not reliable or valid (Clawson, Jurbergs, Lindwall, & Phipps, 2013).…”