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Cited by 15Mental Health via WritingChildhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of LifeCancer survivorship and care

Language Use and Post‐Traumatic Stress Symptomatology in Parents of Pediatric Cancer Survivors1

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Manne, Sharon·2002·Journal of Applied Social Psychology
DOI 10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb00233.x
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Abstract

The words parents use when disclosing their current thoughts and feelings about their children's cancer were hypothesized to be associated with post‐traumatic stress symptomatology among parents of children who had successfully completed treatment. A word‐based, computerized text‐analysis program was used to analyze writing samples from 82 parents. Parents completed a questionnaire and a structured interview assessing post‐traumatic stress symptomatology. Results indicate partial support for the association between language use and post‐traumatic stress symptoms. Use of past‐tense verbs was associated with fewer traumatic stress symptoms, and use of future‐tense verbs was associated with more traumatic stress symptoms. Time since completion of the child's treatment moderated the relationship between use of past‐ and future tense verbs and post‐traumatic stress symptoms. Implications for using computer‐based text analyses in the study of psychological processes associated with post‐traumatic responses are discussed.

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  • Fewer positive emotions were linked to more PTSD symptoms.

    “Conversely, other studies 40,59 found that fewer positive emotions were linked to more PTSD symptoms”

    From Linguistic markers for identifying post-traumatic stress disorder and associated symptoms: a systematic literature review (2025) · cites this paper as [59]

    In ‘Associations Between LIWC Indicators and Post-Traumatic Stress Symptoms,’ Table 2 shows a significant negative correlation between positive-emotion words and avoidance symptoms, consistent with fewer such words being linked to more avoidance. But the correlation with total symptoms is not marked significant, and the accompanying prose says fewer positive-emotion words were associated with less avoidance—the opposite direction. The source therefore does not clearly support the broader claim about PTSD symptoms. (LLM, conf=0.75)

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  • Past tense usage generally suggests psychological distancing from the trauma.

    “Past tense usage has generally suggested a psychological distancing from the trauma”

    From Linguistic markers for identifying post-traumatic stress disorder and associated symptoms: a systematic literature review (2025) · cites this paper as [59]

    The Discussion says greater past-tense use may indicate that parents had processed and integrated the cancer experience, and reports an association with fewer traumatic-stress symptoms. It does not describe this as psychological distancing; its proposed explanation is confronting the experience rather than avoiding it. The association was significant for parents whose children had completed treatment more than five years earlier, not generally across the sample. (LLM, conf=0.79)

    Experimental — accuracy not yet measured

  • Future tense was less commonly analyzed but has been considered to reflect anticipatory anxiety or fear about potential future threats.

    “Meanwhile, the future tense was less commonly analyzed, yet has been considered to reflect anticipatory anxiety or fear about potential future threats, which are significant elements of PTSD symptomatology.40,59”

    From Linguistic markers for identifying post-traumatic stress disorder and associated symptoms: a systematic literature review (2025) · cites this paper as [59]

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Cites

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Research works printed but not linked: 10

  1. Buick D., 2000, Language of women diagnosed with breast cancer
  2. Francis M., 1993, LIWC: Linguistic inquiry and word count
  3. Gibbon M., 1996, Users' guide for the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐IV Axis I disorders—research version
  4. Heiney S., 1994, The aftermath of bone marrow transplant: Parents of pediatric patients, Oncology Nursing Forum, 21, 843
  5. Koocher G., 1981, The Damocles syndrome
  6. Kulka R., 1990, The National Vietnam Veterans Readjustment Study (NVVRS): Tables of findings and technical appendices
  7. Pennebaker J., 1999, Linguistic Inquiry and Word Count, the second version
  8. Smyth J., 1998, Narrative formation when writing about traumatic events is related to activity restriction from illness and avoidant thoughts
  9. Spitzer R. L., 1990, User's guide for the Structured Clinical Interview for DSM‐III‐R SCID
  10. Weathers F. W., 1993, The PTSD Checklist (PCL): Reliability, validity, and diagnostic utility

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Authors
Manne, S.
Affiliations
Fox Chase Cancer Center (US)
Corresponding author
Manne, Sharon
ORCID
Manne, Sharon
Venue
Journal of Applied Social Psychology
Publisher
Wiley
Published
2002-03
Volume
32
Issue
3
Pages
608-629
ISSN
  • 0021-9029 (ISSN-L)
  • 1559-1816
DOI
10.1111/j.1559-1816.2002.tb00233.x
OpenAlex
W2060867224
Semantic Scholar
6b8fd83894f8836c124bb427c86a9d255cc84611
Cited by
15
References
44
Citations by year
2025: 2 · 2024: 2 · 2021: 2 · 2019: 1 · 2018: 1 · 2015: 2 · 2014: 1 · 2013: 1
FWCI
0.00
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
onlinelibrary.wiley.com/termsAndConditions#vor (vor, 1613 d)
Locations
Journal of Applied Social Psychology (publishedVersion)
Funders
National Cancer Institute
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Social Psychology › Mental Health via Writing
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
Keywords
post-traumatic stress, language use, tense, computational text analysis, childhood cancer, parental psychological distress

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