Post-traumatic growth in parents of long-term childhood cancer survivors compared to the general population: A report from the Swiss childhood cancer survivor study-Parents.

Baenziger, Julia; Roser, Katharina; Mader, Luzius; Ilic, Anica; Sansom-Daly, Ursula M; von Bueren, André O; Tinner, Eva Maria; Michel, Gisela (2024). Post-traumatic growth in parents of long-term childhood cancer survivors compared to the general population: A report from the Swiss childhood cancer survivor study-Parents. Psycho-oncology, 33(1), e6246. Wiley 10.1002/pon.6246

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OBJECTIVE

Post-traumatic growth (PTG) describes perceived positive changes following a traumatic event. We describe (i) PTG in parents of long-term childhood cancer survivors (CCS-parents) compared to parents of similar-aged children of the general population (comparison-parents), (ii) normative data for the Swiss population, and (iii) psychological, socio-economic, and event-related characteristics associated with PTG.

METHODS

CCS-parents (aged ≤16 years at diagnosis, ≥20 years old at study, registered in the Childhood Cancer Registry Switzerland (ChCR), and the Swiss population responded to a paper-based survey, including the PTG-Inventory (total score 0-105). We carried out (i) t-tests, (ii) descriptive statistics, and (iii) multilevel regression models with survivor/household as the cluster variable.

RESULTS

In total, 746 CCS-parents (41.7% fathers, response-rate = 42.3%) of 494 survivors (median time since diagnosis 24 (7-40) years), 411 comparison-parents (42.8% fathers, 312 households), and 1069 individuals of the Swiss population (40.7% male, response-rate = 20.1%) participated. Mean [M] total PTG was in CCS-parents M = 52.3 versus comparison-parents M = 50.4, p = 0.078; and in the Swiss population M = 44.5). CCS-parents showed higher 'relating-to-others' (18.4 vs. 17.3, p = 0.010), 'spiritual-change' (3.3 vs. 3.0, p = 0.038) and 'appreciation-of-life' (9.3 vs. 8.4, p = 0.027) than comparison-parents, but not in 'new-possibilities' and 'personal-strength'. Female gender, older age, higher post-traumatic stress, and higher resilience were positively associated with PTG. Individuals reporting events not typically classified as traumatic also reported growth.

CONCLUSIONS

Our findings highlight that mothers and fathers can experience heightened growth many years after their child's illness. Being able to sensitively foreshadow the potential for new-possibilities and personal development may help support parents in developing a sense of hope.

Item Type:

Journal Article (Original Article)

Division/Institute:

04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Endocrinology (DFKE) > Clinic of Paediatric Medicine
04 Faculty of Medicine > Department of Gynaecology, Paediatrics and Endocrinology (DFKE) > Clinic of Paediatric Medicine > Paediatric Haematology/Oncology
04 Faculty of Medicine > Pre-clinic Human Medicine > Institute of Social and Preventive Medicine (ISPM)

UniBE Contributor:

Mader, Luzius Adrian, Tinner Oehler, Eva Maria Eugenia

Subjects:

600 Technology > 610 Medicine & health
300 Social sciences, sociology & anthropology > 360 Social problems & social services

ISSN:

1057-9249

Publisher:

Wiley

Funders:

[4] Swiss National Science Foundation ; [228] Kinderkrebshilfe Schweiz

Language:

English

Submitter:

Pubmed Import

Date Deposited:

05 Dec 2023 10:00

Last Modified:

04 Feb 2024 18:44

Publisher DOI:

10.1002/pon.6246

PubMed ID:

38047716

Uncontrolled Keywords:

cancer cohort general population norm oncology paediatric parents post-traumatic growth resilience trauma

BORIS DOI:

10.48350/189829

URI:

https://boris.unibe.ch/id/eprint/189829

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