Coping strategies used by parents of children diagnosed with cancer

Abstract

Background: Cancer is a word that strikes fear into people and is something that completely changes their lives and its effects touch everyone involved. The main objective of the study is to assess the coping strategies used by parents of children with cancer. Subjects and Methods: A total of 60 caregivers of children with cancer and 60 caregivers of healthy children participated in the study. Informed consent was taken and caregivers were assessed on sociodemographic parameters, and coping was measured using ways of coping scale-revised. Results: The mean age of children was 9.98 (standard deviation-1.85) years. About half (54%) of them had completed 5th standard. Half (51%) of the children were diagnosed with acute lymphoblastic leukemia. A total of 60 parents were recruited in the present study, about half of the parents (48.3%) were educated up to or beyond graduation and about (70%) of them were earning more than rupees 19,574/month. Slightly more than half (51.7%) of the caregivers belonged to joint/extended families. The findings of the current study are evident that parents used emotion-focused coping strategies more than problem-focused coping strategies. Conclusion: The present study suggests that whenever possible, intervention may best target parents to enhance better-coping skills. We also need to address the caregivers concerns seriously to improve well-being their quality of life.

Keywords

• Caregivers
• coping
• oncology
• pediatric cancer