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Cited by 6Posttraumatic Stress Disorder ResearchChildhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of LifeCancer survivorship and care

Posttraumatic Stress and Attentional Bias towards Cancer-Related Stimuli in Parents of Children Recently Diagnosed with Cancer

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Cernvall, Martin, Hovén, Emma, Ljungman, Lisa, Ljungman, Gustaf, Carlbring, Per, von Essen, Louise·2016·PLOS ONE
DOI 10.1371/journal.pone.0152778PMC PMC4817976
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Abstract

OBJECTIVES: To investigate whether posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) are related to attentional bias towards cancer-related stimuli among parents of children recently diagnosed with cancer. METHODS: Sixty-two parents completed questionnaires measuring PTSS, depression, and anxiety and the emotional Stroop task via the Internet. The emotional Stroop task included cancer-related words, cardiovascular disease-related words, and neutral words. RESULTS: Participants were split in two groups based on the median of PTSS: High-PTSS and Low-PTSS. There was a significant interaction between word-type and group and a planned contrast test of this interaction indicated that the High-PTSS group had longer response latencies on cancer-related words compared to the other word-type and group combinations. CONCLUSIONS: Findings suggest that PTSS are related to attentional bias towards cancer-related stimuli among parents of children recently diagnosed with cancer. Implications of this finding for the understanding of PTSS in this population, future research, and clinical practice are discussed.

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  • Families caring for children with cancer are at risk of developing anxiety, depression and parental stress.

    “The effects and consequences experienced by families caring for children with cancer include the risk of developing anxiety, depression and parental stress [8,9,10]”

    From Psychosocial Factors Predicting Resilience in Family Caregivers of Children with Cancer: A Cross-Sectional Study (2021) · cites this paper as [8]

    The Introduction describes parenting a child recently diagnosed with cancer as stressful and links parents’ posttraumatic stress symptoms with depression and anxiety. The Results (Participants) also report higher depression and anxiety in parents with higher posttraumatic stress symptoms. The paper concerns parents, however, and does not establish that other family members are at risk or that these conditions develop because of caregiving. (LLM, conf=0.82)

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References 41 · Cited by 6

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Authors
Cernvall, M., Hovén, E., Ljungman, L., Ljungman, G., Carlbring, P., & von Essen, L.
Affiliations
  • Uppsala University (SE)
  • Stockholm University (SE)
Corresponding author
Cernvall, Martin
ORCID
Venue
PLOS ONE
Publisher
Public Library of Science (PLoS)
Published
2016-04-01
Volume
11
Issue
4
Pages
e0152778
ISSN
1932-6203 (ISSN-L)
DOI
10.1371/journal.pone.0152778
PMC
PMC4817976
OpenAlex
W2326614325
Cited by
6
References
41
Citations by year
2025: 1 · 2023: 1 · 2022: 1 · 2021: 1 · 2020: 1 · 2019: 1
FWCI
0.45
Type
journal article
Language
en
Open access
Licence
Locations
  • PLoS ONE (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • Europe PMC (PubMed Central) (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed Central (publishedVersion, cc-by)
  • PubMed (publishedVersion)
  • Uppsala University Publications (Uppsala University) (submittedVersion, other-oa)
  • DOAJ (DOAJ: Directory of Open Access Journals) (submittedVersion, cc-by-sa)
Funders
  • Cancerfonden
  • Vetenskapsrådet (K2008-70X-20836-01-3, K2008-70X-20836-01-3, K2011-70X-20836-04-4, K2011-70X-20836-04-4)
  • Barncancerfonden (PROJ08/010)
  • Uppsala Universitet
Topics
  • Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Research
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life
  • Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
Keywords
posttraumatic stress symptoms, attentional bias, parents of children with cancer, childhood cancer, emotional Stroop task, response latency, depression, anxiety
MeSH terms
Adult, Attention, Child, Female, Humans, Male, Neoplasms, Parents, Surveys and Questionnaires, Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic, Young Adult

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