Psychosocial Effects of Breast Cancer on the Patient's Children

Abstract

Nineteen breast cancer outpatients responded to a semistructured interview and written measures of maternal psychosocial adjustment and children's adjustment. Mothers responded on 32 children who did not differ from a normative sample on measures of emotional and behavior problems and overall competence. However, the mothers reported significantly higher psychological distress than did a normative sample of mixed cancer patients. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that children whose mothers did not have serious complications associated with treatment and whose mothers reported more psychological distress were rated as having significantly more emotional and behavior problems. Mothers who did not experience serious complications of treatment also reported sigmficantly lower overall competence in their children. Finally, family adaptability appeared to be related to the ability of mothers and children to cope with the mother's illness. The authors suggest that the implications include providing consultations to mothers regarding their children's functioning, assessing their children independently, and supporting families' potential for flexibility.