Factors related to posttraumatic stress in adolescent survivors of childhood cancer and their parents.
OBJECTIVE
The purpose of this study was to investigate factors related to severe posttraumatic stress symptoms (PTSS) in adolescent survivors of childhood cancer and their parents.


METHODS
Eighty-nine families (88 adolescent survivors of childhood cancer, 87 mothers, 72 fathers) completed a self-report questionnaire. Multivariate logistic regression analyses were performed using the following risk factors for severe PTSS: trait anxiety, family functioning, demographic and medical variables.


RESULTS
Severe PTSS were reported by 10.9% (n=9) of the survivors, 20.7% (n=18) of the mothers, and 22.2% (n=16) of the fathers. Preliminary analyses found significant correlations of PTSS between mother-survivor (Spearman's gamma=0.377, p<0.01) and mother-father (Spearman's gamma=0.483, p<0.01). The results of multivariate analyses indicated that higher trait anxiety [odds ratio (OR):1.16; 95% confidence interval (CI): 1.03-1.31; p<0.05] and having medical sequelae (OR: 5.85; 95% CI:1.02-33.72; p<0.05) were significant factors related to PTSS for survivors. For mothers, the significant PTSS-related factors were: higher trait anxiety (OR:1.13; 95% CI:1.04-1.23; p<0.01); 5- to 9-year interval from the first diagnosis to the present investigation, compared to more than a 10-year interval (OR: 6.45; 95% CI:1.67-24.89; p<0.01); and a relatively lower rating on "roles" of family functioning (OR: 12.34; 95% CI:1.11-136.97; p<0.05). For fathers, trait anxiety was a significant related factor (OR: 1.07; 95% CI:1.01-1.14; p<0.05).


CONCLUSIONS
Survivors and their parents suffered from PTSS after long interval from completion of treatment, and PTSS-related factors varied for each family member. Appropriate allocation of responsibility for family functioning may promote the ability to decrease PTSS, especially for mothers.
Ozono
Shuichi
S
Department of Pediatrics and Child Health, Kurume University School of Medicine, Kurume, Japan.
Saeki
Toshinari
T
Mantani
Tomoyuki
T
Ogata
Akiko
A
Okamura
Hitoshi
H
Yamawaki
Shigeto
S
D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000704:Analysis of Variance; D001007:Anxiety / Q000453:epidemiology; D002648:Child; D015986:Confounding Factors, Epidemiologic; D005192:Family Health; D005220:Fathers; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007564:Japan / Q000453:epidemiology; D008016:Life Change Events; D016015:Logistic Models; D008297:Male; D009035:Mothers; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000150:complications / Q000453:epidemiology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D015995:Prevalence; D012107:Research Design; D012720:Severity of Illness Index; D013313:Stress Disorders, Post-Traumatic / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology*; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D017741:Survivors