Late Psychosocial Consequences for Parents of Children Who Survived Cancer

Abstract

Investigated late psychosocial sequelae in 133 parents of children who survived cancer, using questionnaires developed to measure the specific impact of the disease. Childhood cancer had distinct and persistent late psychosocial effects on parents of survivors. Uncertainty and loneliness were the most reported problems. Demographic and situational characteristics such as being a mother, low SES, no religious affiliation, chronic disease in a family member other than the child surviving cancer, and concurrent stresses increased the risk of reporting late problems. Treatment itself had little or no effect on reported problems. However, when treatment led to long-term sequelae in the child, a significant and specific effect on parental problems was observed. No decline of problems over time was found, which has implications for patient care.

Swedish mothers and fathers of a child diagnosed with cancer A Look at Their Quality of Life

“…In addition, mothers reported more symptoms of depression, and gastrointestinal tract and metabolic symptoms than fathers within the same family. These results are in agreement with previous findings reporting mothers of children with cancer to be more at risk of negative psychosocial outcomes than fathers (7,10). The differences between mothers and fathers may be a reflection of the general finding that women report more physical and psychological complaints and a lower quality of life (26) and psychological well-being than men (27).…”

“…Common complaints among parents of children with cancer are sleep disturbances, hypervigilance, difficulty concentrating (5), guilt, anger (6), uncertainty, loneliness (7), problems with parenting the sick child and siblings, an inability within the family to meet each other's emotional needs (6), and financial strain (8). Some parents show symptoms of PTSD (5,9).…”

“…Some studies report mothers to be more at risk of negative outcomes than fathers (7,10), whereas others find no differences (11,12).…”

Health‐related quality of life in children and emotional reactions of parents following completion of cancer treatment

“…This appeared also to be true for their parents; overall, most of them did not experience more emotional disturbances than healthy controls [13][14][15][16]. However, if illness related concerns were taken into account, parents of survivors of childhood cancer seemed to experience feelings of uncertainty and loneliness [17,18].…”

A Qualitative Approach to Find Nursing Diagnoses for Non-Physical Health Problems in Mothers of Children with Cancer

“…In parents of children with cancer, low self-esteem occurs after several times of their inability to control the situation and they feel that compared to others, they are surrounded by misery (19). In another study, it is considered as one of the late psychological effects of cancer of child on parents (20). As hopelessness is an obstacle for optimism and coping of parents, it is crucial to be found in parents of children with cancer and managed as a part of a family centered care (21).…”