title: A comparison of the emotional and behavioral problems of children of patients with cancer or a mental disorder and their association with parental quality of life.
abstract: OBJECTIVE
  To compare the emotional and behavioral problems of children of patients suffering from cancer or a mental disorder and their association with parental quality of life.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 223 children from 136 families and their 160 parents were investigated from multiple perspectives in a cross-sectional study. The consistency of different adjustment reports between family members was examined. Through mixed models, the differences between parental HRQoL and the children's symptomatology were studied with regard to the type of parental illness. The prediction of children's adjustment through parental HRQoL was further examined. Additionally, gender and age of the children were considered.
  
  
  RESULTS
  Half of the children exhibited psychosocial problems. Gender and age differences were independent of the type of parental disease. In families with parental cancer, the reports of children's adjustment were more consistent between family members than in families where a parental mental disorder was present. We found differences in HRQoL between families with mentally ill parents and those with parental cancer patients. Specifically, the healthy partners of mentally ill parents showed worse HRQoL compared with healthy partners of cancer patients. Healthy parents' reduced HRQoL was associated with worse adjustment in their children, regardless of the type of parental illness, but this result was not found for ill parents.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Family members confronted with parental cancer or mental disorders are more burdened compared with those from the "normal" population, independently of the type of disease. Our results indicate that the type of a parental disease has no direct effect on children's adjustment. However, there are disease-specific effects on parental HRQoL, which are associated with children's adjustment.
authors: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Germany. Electronic address: t.krattenmacher@uke.de.
authors: Thomas
authors: T
authors: Krattenmacher
authors: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Germany.
authors: Franziska
authors: F
authors: Kühne
authors: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Germany.
authors: Susanne
authors: S
authors: Halverscheid
authors: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Germany.
authors: Silke
authors: S
authors: Wiegand-Grefe
authors: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Medical Psychology, Germany.
authors: Corinna
authors: C
authors: Bergelt
authors: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Germany.
authors: Georg
authors: G
authors: Romer
authors: University Medical Center Hamburg-Eppendorf, Department of Child Adolescent Psychiatry, Psychotherapy and Psychosomatics, Germany.
authors: Birgit
authors: B
authors: Möller
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000342:Affective Symptoms / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D008297:Male; D001523:Mental Disorders / Q000523:psychology*; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life
keywords: Cancer; Child care; Coping; Oncology; Parents; Psychosocial aspects; Quality of life