Advancements made in the treatment of the physiological aspects of childhood cancer have resulted in a greater need to conceptualize the disease psychologically as a chronic illness that causes significant stress and requires ongoing adjustment. This study investigates the relationships among parental characteristics, child characteristics, and the quality of life of children diagnosed with cancer. Forty-seven mothers and sixteen fathers, as well as nineteen children diagnosed with cancer, completed measures of their own psychological functioning. Measures of the diagnosed children's quality of life also were completed. Mothers' ratings of their children's quality of life were found to be correlated positively with both fathers' and children's ratings. In addition, a significant relationship was found between mothers' depression and parenting stress and children's quality of life, as well as mothers' and fathers' anxiety and children's quality of life. Finally, mothers', fathers', and children's ratings of their own characteristics predicted significantly their ratings of children's quality of life. Overall, these results suggested the importance of examining the psychological characteristics of family members when assessing the quality of life of children with cancer.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:ucf.edu/oai:stars.library.ucf.edu:etd-1381 |
| Date | 01 January 2005 |
| Creators | Roddenberry, Angela |
| Publisher | STARS |
| Source Sets | University of Central Florida |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Source | Electronic Theses and Dissertations |
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