Mullins, Larry L.

The current study examined the relationship between demographic variables, treatment factors, and perceived barriers to care to both caregiver distress and caregiver-reported child health-related quality of life in caregivers of children diagnosed with cancer utilizing path analysis. Parental distress is examined as a potential mediator between barriers to care and income, as well as child age and caregiver-reported health-related quality of life (HRQOL). The final model demonstrated close fit to the data.

Objective: The current study evaluated perceived barriers to care for parents of children with cancer and the mediating effect of illness uncertainty (IU; uncertainty from the ambiguity or unpredictability of the illness) on the relationship between barriers and parental psychological distress. We hypothesized that greater barriers to care would be related to higher levels of IU and, in turn, higher anxiety, depression, and posttraumatic stress symptom (PTSS) ratings.

Objective: Little is known about relations between domains of psychosocial risk among pediatric cancer populations. The Psychosocial Assessment Tool 2.0 (PAT2.0) is one internationally validated screening measure that can examine these relations. This study aimed to examine risk profiles and predictors of these patterns exhibited by American and Dutch families.

Caregiving stress has been associated with changes in the psychological and physical health of parents of children with cancer, including both partnered and single parents. While parents who indicate "single" on a demographic checklist are typically designated as single parents, a parent can be legally single and still have considerable support caring for an ill child. Correspondingly, an individual can be married/partnered and feel alone when caring for a child with serious illness.