Symptoms of Posttraumatic Stress in Parents of Children with Cancer: Are they Elevated Relative to Parents of Healthy Children?
Open accessAbstract
OBJECTIVE: To examine posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in parents of children with cancer as a function of time since diagnosis, treatment status, and relapse history, and as compared to parents of healthy children. METHOD: Participants included parents of 199 children with cancer, comprising a cross-sectional sample of diagnoses and treatment phases, ranging from currently on therapy to long-term survivors, and 108 parents of healthy children obtained via acquaintance control methods. Parents completed a standardized self-report measure of PTSS. RESULTS: Within the cancer group, parental report of PTSS differed as a function of treatment status and time since diagnosis. Parents of children on active treatment endorsed similar levels of PTSS as control parents, whereas parents of children off treatment reported significantly lower levels of PTSS than did controls. Similarly, parents of long-term survivors reported significantly lower levels of PTSS than did controls, while parents of recently diagnosed children did not differ from controls on PTSS. In contrast, parents of children who had suffered a relapse reported significantly higher levels of PTSS, and were much more likely to be identified as a posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) case. CONCLUSIONS: As a group, parents of children with cancer did not demonstrate any evidence of increased PTSS relative to parents of healthy children. Time since diagnosis, child treatment status, and relapse history are significant determinants of parent PTSS. Only parents of children who experienced a relapse appear to be at increased risk of PTSD. The current results appear discrepant from the existing literature, and possible explanations for these discrepancies are examined.
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There is a consensus that the experience of a paediatric life-limiting condition is traumatic for children and their family.
“There is a consensus that the experience of a paediatric life-limiting condition is traumatic for children and their family [26,44].”
From “The Key Is to Value Every Little Achievement”: A Qualitative Study of the Psychological Experience of Parent Caregivers in Paediatric Palliative Care (2023) · cites this paper as [26]
The opening passage (page unavailable) describes a child’s cancer diagnosis as potentially traumatic for parents. It does not establish a consensus that paediatric life-limiting conditions are traumatic for both children and families: it says children with cancer generally show low posttraumatic stress symptoms, and the Discussion reports no elevated symptoms in parents relative to parents of healthy children. (LLM, conf=0.87)
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“There is a consensus that the experience of a paediatric life-limiting condition is traumatic for children and their family [26,44].”
Background
- Authors
- Jurbergs, N., Long, A., Ticona, L., & Phipps, S.
- Affiliations
- St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (US)
- Venue
- Journal of Pediatric Psychology
- Publisher
- Oxford University Press (OUP)
- Published
- 2007-09-21
- Volume
- 34
- Issue
- 1
- Pages
- 4-13
- ISSN
- 0146-8693 (ISSN-L)
- 1465-735X
- PMC
- PMC2638717
- OpenAlex
- W2159489108
- Cited by
- 128
- References
- 31
- Citations by year
- 2026: 1 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 3 · 2023: 8 · 2022: 4 · 2021: 5 · 2020: 11 · 2019: 6 · 2018: 4 · 2017: 5 · 2016: 9 · 2015: 16 · 2014: 10 · 2013: 9 · 2012: 14
- FWCI
- 4.15
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- bronze
- doi.org
- Locations
- Journal of Pediatric Psychology (publishedVersion)
- Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion)
- PubMed Central (publishedVersion)
- PubMed (publishedVersion)
- Funders
- American Lebanese Syrian Associated Charities
- National Institutes of Health
- National Cancer Institute (R01CA082378, R25CA023944, R01 CA 82378)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
- Keywords
- posttraumatic stress symptoms, post-traumatic stress disorder, parents of children with cancer, childhood cancer, relapse, time since diagnosis, treatment status, long-term survivors, parental psychological distress
- MeSH terms
- Adaptation, Psychological, Adolescent, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Neoplasms, Outpatient Clinics, Hospital, Parents, Personality Inventory, Risk Factors, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Survivors, Disease Progression
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