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Parenting concerns, psychological distress, and relationship functioning in parents coping with cancer

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Date
2019-04-22
Author
McDaniel, Hannah
Advisors
Keefe, Francis
Porter, Laura
Van Denburg, Alyssa
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Abstract
Introduction: Studies have found that cancer patients with dependent children exhibit high symptoms of anxiety, depression, and worry. Patients’ parenting concerns can negatively impact their own and their family’s adjustment to the cancer experience. Little is known about parenting concerns of partners of cancer patients, or associations between parenting concerns and couples’ relationship functioning. This study investigated parenting concerns in both patients and partners, and their associations with psychological and relationship functioning. Methods: Patients with stage II-IV cancer (n=38; 74% female) and their partners (n=34; 26% female) completed questionnaires assessing parenting concerns, depression, couple cancer-related communication, and relationship satisfaction. Correlations and paired t-tests were used to examine associations between patient and partner parenting concerns. Multilevel modeling for dyadic (paired) data was used to examine associations between parenting concerns, psychological distress, communication, and relationship functioning for patients and partners. Results: Results indicated patient and partner parenting concerns were significantly correlated (r = .65, p < .0001). There were no significant differences in the levels of parenting concerns between patients and partners (p = .78). For both patients and partners, higher parenting concerns were associated with significantly poorer cancer-related communication (B = .55, SE = .16, p = .001) and higher depression (approaching significance; B = 1.89, SE = .99, p = .06). Parenting concerns were not significantly associated with relationship satisfaction (p < .05). Conclusions/Implications: These findings suggest patients and partners have similar levels of parenting concerns and that parenting concerns are associated with higher levels of depression and poorer communication. This indicates the need for additional psychological support and mutual spousal support for couples raising children while navigating the cancer experience.
Type
Honors thesis
Department
Psychology and Neuroscience
Subject
parenting concerns
couples coping with cancer
parents with cancer
dyadic adjustment
relationship functioning
cancer and distress
Permalink
https://hdl.handle.net/10161/18374
Citation
McDaniel, Hannah (2019). Parenting concerns, psychological distress, and relationship functioning in parents coping with cancer. Honors thesis, Duke University. Retrieved from https://hdl.handle.net/10161/18374.
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This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.

Rights for Collection: Undergraduate Honors Theses and Student papers


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