Children of parents with cancer: How can parents help their child cope and what help is associated with good coping and psychological functioning in the child?

For children one of the most traumatic events is when their parents are
diagnosed with a potentially fatal disease. The literature clearly chows that
children of parents with cancer experience significant psychological stress,
including posttraumatic stress symptoms and internalizing problems. Children
are confronted with changes in the emotional atmosphere in their family,
changes in daily routine, in the physical and emotional availability in their
parents and have to live with the fear of separation from their parent. At the
same time the child has limited possibilities to cope with this situation both
intellectually and emotionally because of its developmental age. Parents with
cancer are confronted with the threat of losing their life, the rigors of
treatment and at the same time the care for their children. Parents face many
uncertainties as how to help their child in this situation and have a great
need for guidance. Studies on how parents can help their child to cope with
their illness are sparse. Therefore this study will focus on how parents can
help their child in coping with cancer thereby enhancing their child*s
psychological well-being.

The purpose of this study is to describe how parents try to help their child in
coping with parental cancer. It will be investigated if parental help affects
the coping strategy of children to deal with their parent*s illness and
subsequently their psychological functioning.

The design of the study is a prospective and retrospective cross-sectional
within-subjects design.

The burden of the study involves time of the participant and talking about
their experiences of a difficult situation. The adult participants, i.e. the
parents, are being interviewed approximately one hour and a half about how they
have helped their child to cope with parental cancer. After the interview both
parents are requested to fill in five short questionnaires and two short rating
scales. Because coping and psychological functioning in the child is most
reliable measured in the child itself, also the child is approached to
participate in the study. The interview of the child last less than one hour
and afterwards, the child is asked to fill in five short questionnaires and one
short rating scale. Parents and children are asked to relate about their
experiences in coping with parental cancer in their own way. There is no
pressure on participants if they do not wish to address a particular issue.
Natural emotions associated with the illness and the period of treatment can
emerge because of the study. The interviewers are trained how to deal with the
emotions evolving from the study. In addition, professional aftercare can be
provided by the Department of Clinical Psychology of the Ikazia Hospital if
necessary. In addition, no interventions are involved in this study, since it
is descriptive.
Talking about the period of parental illness can have also beneficial effects
for negative emotions associated with the illness can be processed. In this
type of research many participants spontaneously report positive effects from
an interview because they can talk about their experiences in their own way.
Consequently, participating in the study may have a psychological therapeutic
effect for the parents as well as their child.