Parent and Adolescent Adjustment to Pediatric Cancer: Associations with Coping, Social Support, and Family Function

Abstract

This article presents preliminary results investigating the relationship between parental and adolescent adjustment and coping and their relationship to social support and family functioning in a sample of adolescents (ages 11-18) with cancer and one of their parents. Parents and adolescents from two pediatric oncology clinics completed measures of distress, coping, social support, and family cohesion/adaptability. Low levels of distress were reported by both children and their parents with positive correlations noted between parent and child adjustment. Adolescents reported that their parents and a close friend were the greatest sources of social support and described their families as having a high degree of cohesion and adaptability. Both adolescents and parents used more adaptive than maladaptive coping strategies, although distress was associated with reduced use of adaptive coping. Adolescents are able to adapt to cancer in the context of strong family and social supports. In addition, there is a relationship between parental and adolescents adjustment, and between greater use of adaptive coping styles and lower distress.

Coping Styles of Female Adolescent Cancer Patients with Potential Fertility Loss

“…Wishful thinking, externalizing, and other emotionfocused coping styles are traditionally viewed as maladaptive when compared to information-seeking and other active coping styles. 34 However, there is still widespread debate in the literature. Emotion-focused coping styles should not be labeled as inherently maladaptive, as emotion-focused coping styles aim to reduce negative emotional responses such as guilt and shame associated with stressors-in this case, infertility.…”

Aspectos da amizade de adolescentes portadores de diabetes e câncer

“…A intimidade ajudou a compartilhar informações sobre o diagnóstico e tratamento com amigos (Pendley et al, 2002), e estes apareceram como fontes importantes de companheirismo e apoio emocional (Greco et al, 2001;Trask et al, 2003).…”

“…Adolescentes com câncer vêm apontando pais e amigos próximos como as maiores fontes de apoio social (Trask et al, 2003). Quanto ao diabetes e o câncer, os estudos estão voltados mais para o apoio profissional ao adolescente, apesar de haver algumas investigações sobre auto-revelação e intimidade.…”

Methodological Analysis Regarding Pediatric Oncohematology Papers

“…A pesquisa desenvolvida por Trask et al (2003) utilizou várias medidas de distress, coping, suporte social e coesão/adaptação familiar para investigar as relações entre ajustamento (parental e de adolescentes), enfrentamento e relações com suporte social e funcionamento familiar. Além de um questionário sócio-demográfico, os participantes responderam o Inventário Breve de Sintomas (do inglês Brief Symptom Inventory -BSI, de Derogatis, 1992), um instrumento de 53 itens com respostas em escala Likert de cinco pontos, para acessar padrões de sintomas psicológicos durante a semana anterior.…”