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Family and Child Adjustment to Cancer
 Parents of children may be concerned about the emotional impact that a cancer diagnosis and its treatment can have on their child. This concern can be lessened by finding that children generally adjust well to the diagnosis and treatment of cancer. Although children may experience distress right after diagnosis, most children with cancer are functioning similarly to peers emotionally and socially by the time they return to school or after the first year after diagnosis. Some studies have actually found that children with cancer experience lower levels of depression and anxiety than their peers, which is interesting and encouraging news.
Support from peers seems to be especially important for adolescents with cancer. Adolescents with cancer often report receiving the most support from their parents, especially their mothers, but adolescents often don’t want to discuss their feelings with their parents. Although support from friends is typically very important for adolescents, many adolescents are not satisfied with the amount of support their friends provide. Adolescents may be able to find other peers with cancer through the use of support groups and social networking sites. Support groups and social networking sites may serve as a means for adolescents to locate and connect with other peers with cancer. We are currently examining the various benefits that social networking sites such as CaringBridge are offering to patients and their families.
Although children with cancer typically adjust well to cancer and its treatment, some parents of children with cancer don’t do as well. Many are faced with a number of stressors that could potentially put them at a higher risk for emotional problems. Parents may be at increased risk for symptoms of post traumatic stress. The day to day challenges of caring for a child with a life threatening illness can have a strong emotional impact on the entire family. Parents of children with cancer often report that emotionally supporting their child with cancer and other family members is a very difficult and time-consuming task. Similar to the child’s emotional response to the diagnosis, parental distress is often highest initially diagnosis and declines following the first year. Social support, family unity, and coping strategies are related to lower levels of parental distress. Parents and families of children with cancer often receive the most social support during the diagnostic phase of treatment, followed by a decline during the follow up phases.
Parents should be aware of the effect that the diagnosis of cancer can have on siblings of children with cancer. Caring for a child with cancer is often a very time consuming task for parents, so siblings may need help adjusting to the decreased availability of their parents and any new roles they may acquire. Siblings of children with cancer may be at risk for experiencing symptoms of depression and anxiety. Most siblings of children with cancer indicate that the cancer diagnosis has at least one negative effect on their lives. Social support seems to play a role in psychological adjustment of siblings. Siblings who indicate higher levels of perceived social support frequently report fewer symptoms of depression and anxiety than those siblings who reported lower levels of support. Though the presence of social support can reduce the risk for distress in siblings, parents often report that it is difficult to provide their other children with adequate attention during this stressful time.
Overall, the news for the psychological adjustment of kids with cancer is good. But we are still interested in finding out why. Perhaps if we can understand what keeps these kids going strong, we can help those who have a harder time. Look for more news and updates about this is the future.
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