title: Parent illness appraisals, parent adjustment, and parent-reported child quality of life in pediatric cancer.
abstract: Psychosocial distress is a salient construct experienced by families of children with newly diagnosed cancer, but little is known about parental appraisal of the child's illness and the subsequent impact this may have on child and parent functioning. The goal of the present study was to examine the interrelationships among multiple parent illness appraisals, parent adjustment outcomes, and parent-reported child quality of life in parents of children diagnosed with cancer. Parents completed measures of illness appraisal (illness uncertainty and attitude toward illness), parent adjustment (general distress, posttraumatic stress, parenting stress), and child quality of life (general and cancer-related). Path analysis revealed direct effects for parent illness uncertainty and illness attitudes on all 3 measures of parent adjustment. Illness uncertainty, but not illness attitudes, demonstrated a direct effect on parent-reported child general quality of life; parenting stress had direct effects on general and cancer-related quality of life. Exploratory analyses indicated that parent illness uncertainty and illness attitudes conferred indirect effects on parent-reported general and cancer-related quality of life through parenting stress. Negative parent illness appraisals appear to have adverse impacts on parents' psychosocial functioning and have implications for the well-being of their child with cancer.
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Oklahoma State University , Stillwater , Oklahoma , USA.
authors.forename: Larry L
authors.initials: LL
authors.lastname: Mullins
authors.affiliation: b Department of Psychology , University of Kansas , Lawrence , Kansas , USA.
authors.forename: Christopher C
authors.initials: CC
authors.lastname: Cushing
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Oklahoma State University , Stillwater , Oklahoma , USA.
authors.forename: Kristina I
authors.initials: KI
authors.lastname: Suorsa
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Oklahoma State University , Stillwater , Oklahoma , USA.
authors.forename: Alayna P
authors.initials: AP
authors.lastname: Tackett
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Oklahoma State University , Stillwater , Oklahoma , USA.
authors.forename: Elizabeth S
authors.initials: ES
authors.lastname: Molzon
authors.affiliation: c Department of Pediatrics , University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center , Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , USA.
authors.forename: Sunnye
authors.initials: S
authors.lastname: Mayes
authors.affiliation: c Department of Pediatrics , University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center , Oklahoma City , Oklahoma , USA.
authors.forename: Rene
authors.initials: R
authors.lastname: McNall-Knapp
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Oklahoma State University , Stillwater , Oklahoma , USA.
authors.forename: Alexandria J
authors.initials: AJ
authors.lastname: Mullins
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Oklahoma State University , Stillwater , Oklahoma , USA.
authors.forename: Kaitlyn L
authors.initials: KL
authors.lastname: Gamwell
authors.affiliation: a Department of Psychology , Oklahoma State University , Stillwater , Oklahoma , USA.
authors.forename: John M
authors.initials: JM
authors.lastname: Chaney
mesh_terms: D000293:Adolescent; D000328:Adult; D002648:Child; D002675:Child, Preschool; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D007223:Infant; D008297:Male; D009369:Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D010287:Parent-Child Relations; D010290:Parents / Q000523:psychology*; D011788:Quality of Life; D013315:Stress, Psychological
keywords: Attitude towards illness; illness uncertainty; oncology; pediatric cancer; posttraumatic stress; quality of life