Parenting a child with cancer: promotion and prevention-focused parenting.
Applying regulatory focus theory (RFT), it was predicted that, among survivors of childhood cancer, quality of life (QoL) may be compromised by prevention-focused parenting (the focus on avoiding negative outcomes), rather than promotion-focused parenting (the focus on approaching positive outcomes). Interviews with mothers of survivors of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia (ALL) and tumours of the Central Nervous System (CNS) were coded for reports of parenting and related to child QoL. Parents reported overall more promotion than prevention; however, mothers of children with tumours of the CNS reported more prevention-focus than mothers of children with ALL. Furthermore, prevention focus was related to child QoL, regardless of diagnosis. The study points toward the value of further development of RFT in clinical contexts.
Cancer Research UK Child and Family Research Group, Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield S1O 2TP, UK. c.eiser@shef.ac.uk
Christine
C
Eiser
J
J
Richard Eiser
Veronica
V
Greco
D000293:Adolescent; D001294:Attitude to Health; D016543:Central Nervous System Neoplasms; D002648:Child; D005192:Family Health; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D016487:Parenting / Q000523:psychology; D054198:Precursor Cell Lymphoblastic Leukemia-Lymphoma; D011788:Quality of Life