title: Coping skills and mental health status in adolescents when a parent has cancer: a multicenter and multi-perspective study.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  Parental cancer increases the risk of psychosocial problems in adolescents. We investigated the frequency and efficacy of adolescents' coping strategies and relationships between those strategies and mental health status. Age and gender differences regarding coping and mental health were also investigated.
  
  
  METHODS
  In total, 214 adolescents from 167 families participated in a cross-sectional, multicenter study. All participants were recruited from standard oncological care. Among the participants, 52% utilized a child-centered intervention program. Adolescents' coping skills were measured using KIDCOPE. Mental health status was rated by adolescents and parents by the SDQ for symptomatology and the KIDSCREEN for well-being.
  
  
  RESULTS
  We found that 29% of the adolescents showed emotional and behavioral problems. We found gender differences in mental health status but not in coping. Adolescents used a broad spectrum of coping strategies. Active problem-solving, distraction, acceptance, wishful thinking and seeking social support were the most frequently used coping strategies. The utilization of certain coping skills was mediated by their perceived efficacy. Problem-focused or approach-oriented coping strategies generally are associated with better mental health, while avoidance-oriented coping are associated with worse mental health. Emotion-focused coping was associated with both lower and higher mental health.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  The strategies used by adolescents to cope with parental cancer are associated with their mental health. Problem-solving and approach-oriented coping strategies should be facilitated by psychological interventions regardless of age and gender. Age and gender differences in adolescents' mental health should be further investigated because these differences are not explained by differences in coping strategies.
authors: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Germany. t.krattenmacher@uke.de
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Krattenmacher
authors: Franziska
authors: F
authors: Kühne
authors: Daniel
authors: D
authors: Führer
authors: Volker
authors: V
authors: Beierlein
authors: Elmar
authors: E
authors: Brähler
authors: Franz
authors: F
authors: Resch
authors: Kai v
authors: Kv
authors: Klitzing
authors: Hans-Henning
authors: HH
authors: Flechtner
authors: Corinna
authors: C
authors: Bergelt
authors: Georg
authors: G
authors: Romer
authors: Birgit
authors: B
authors: Möller
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological / Q000145:classification / Q000502:physiology*; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D000367:Age Factors; D000368:Aged; D002648:Child; D003430:Cross-Sectional Studies; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000453:epidemiology* / Q000209:etiology; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents; D011569:Psychiatric Status Rating Scales