Posttraumatic stress disorder among mothers of pediatric cancer survivors: diagnosis, comorbidity, and utility of the PTSD checklist as a screening instrument.
OBJECTIVE
To examine posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) in mothers of survivors of childhood cancer. Comorbidity of anxiety and depressive disorders, prevalence of subclinical PTSD, and the utility of a self-report measure as a screening instrument for PTSD were also investigated.


METHODS
Mothers (n = 65) completed a questionnaire self-report PTSD checklist (PCL-C). Mothers were administered several modules of the SCID: nonpatient edition by telephone, including the PTSD, Generalized Anxiety, and Major Depressive Disorder modules.


RESULTS
We diagnosed 6.2% of the sample with current PTSD. An additional 20% had subclinical PTSD. One of four mothers with PTSD diagnoses had a comorbid diagnosis of an anxiety and depressive disorder. The PCL-C evidenced diagnostic utility as a screening instrument. However, a moderate number of false-positives would result if the recommended cut-off on the instrument was used.


CONCLUSIONS
The PCL-C had diagnostic utility in screening mothers of childhood cancer survivors. The presence of comorbid diagnoses such as anxiety and depression should be examined.
Manne
S L
SL
Fox Chase Cancer Center, Cheltenham, Pennsylvania 19012, USA. SL_Manne@fccc.edu
Du Hamel
K
K
Gallelli
K
K
Sorgen
K
K
Redd
W H
WH
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D001007:Anxiety / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D015897:Comorbidity; D003863:Depression / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008403:Mass Screening / Q000379:methods; D008875:Middle Aged; D009034:Mother-Child Relations; D009035:Mothers / Q000523:psychology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000628:therapy; D011237:Predictive Value of Tests; D015995:Prevalence; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales; D015203:Reproducibility of Results; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000175:diagnosis / Q000453:epidemiology*; D017741:Survivors / Q000523:psychology