Abstract
Objective: Patients with advanced cancer who parent minor children report parenting concerns and increased psychological distress. This cross-sectional study seeks to understand parenting-related issues in patients and spousal caregivers from a relationship perspective. Methods: Patients with a metastatic solid malignancy and their spouses independently completed cross-sectional assessments of psychological distress (Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale), parenting concerns (Parenting Concern Questionnaire) and efficacy (Cancer-Related Parenting Self-Efficacy Scale), and relationship measures (DAS-7, Couples' Illness Communication Scale, and Family Relationship Index). Results: Of the 51 patients (57% female, 49% NHW, mean age 42 years) and spouses (43% female, 43% NHW, mean age of 42 years), approximately 50% couples endorsed psychological distress and were at risk for family dysfunction. Spouses reported significantly higher levels of parenting-related concerns (t = −2.0, p < 0.05) and anxiety (t = −2.8, p < 0.001) than patients. Parenting concerns were significantly associated with illness communication (r = −0.56, p < 0.001) and family function (r = −0.38, p < 0.001). Although the expected interactions between parenting concerns and relationship variables (i.e., illness communication, dyadic adjustment, and family function) were significant for depressive symptoms at p < 0.05, the associations were not in the expected direction. Relationship function buffered against depressive symptoms for those with low rather than high parenting concerns. Conclusions: Not only patients but also spouses report cancer-related parenting concerns. The associations between parenting concerns and distress were stronger for spouses than patients. Dual caregiving appears to be a particularly stressful role. Because relationship function was associated with parenting concerns, we suggest that parent support programs that are couple-based and include both parenting-specific and relationship-specific content may be most effective in reducing distress for this vulnerable population.
Original language | English (US) |
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Article number | e6310 |
Journal | Psycho-oncology |
Volume | 33 |
Issue number | 3 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - Mar 2024 |
Keywords
- advanced cancer
- cancer
- co-parents
- family caregivers
- illness communication
- metastatic cancer
- oncology
- parenting concerns
- relationship function
- spousal caregivers
ASJC Scopus subject areas
- Experimental and Cognitive Psychology
- Oncology
- Psychiatry and Mental health