title: Impact of Caregiving for a Child With Cancer on Parental Health Behaviors, Relationship Quality, and Spiritual Faith: Do Lone Parents Fare Worse?
abstract: Caregiving stress has been associated with changes in the psychological and physical health of parents of children with cancer, including both partnered and single parents. While parents who indicate "single" on a demographic checklist are typically designated as single parents, a parent can be legally single and still have considerable support caring for an ill child. Correspondingly, an individual can be married/partnered and feel alone when caring for a child with serious illness. In the current study, we report the results from our exploratory analyses of parent self-reports of behavior changes during their child's treatment. Parents (N = 263) of children diagnosed with cancer were enrolled at 10 cancer centers. Parents reported significant worsening of all their own health behaviors surveyed, including poorer diet and nutrition, decreased physical activity, and less time spent engaged in enjoyable activities 6 to 18 months following their child's diagnosis. More partnered parents found support from friends increased or stayed the same since their child's diagnosis, whereas a higher proportion of lone parents reported relationships with friends getting worse. More lone parents reported that the quality of their relationship with the ill child's siblings had gotten worse since their child's diagnosis. Spiritual faith increased for all parents.
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA wienerl@nih.gov.
authors.forename: Lori
authors.initials: L
authors.lastname: Wiener
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA Rutgers Robert Wood Johnson Medical School, Newark, NJ, USA.
authors.forename: Adrienne
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Viola
authors.affiliation: Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, NY, USA.
authors.forename: Julia
authors.initials: J
authors.lastname: Kearney
authors.affiliation: Oklahoma State University, Stillwater, OK, USA.
authors.forename: Larry L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Mullins
authors.affiliation: Miller Children's Hospital, Long Beach, CA, USA.
authors.forename: Sandra
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Sherman-Bien
authors.affiliation: Pediatric Oncology Branch, National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Sima
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Zadeh
authors.affiliation: Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, MA, USA.
authors.forename: Andrea
authors.initials: A
authors.lastname: Farkas-Patenaude
authors.affiliation: National Institute of Mental Health, Bethesda, MD, USA.
authors.forename: Maryland
authors.initials: M
authors.lastname: Pao
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D017028:Caregivers / Q000523:psychology*; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D015438:Health Behavior; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D007398:Interpersonal Relations; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000451:nursing* / Q000523:psychology*; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D057566:Self Report; D029181:Spirituality; D013315:Stress, Psychological; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014481:United States
keywords: caregivers; health behavior; pediatric cancer; psychosocial; relationships; spiritual faith