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Abstract
The present study evaluated the use of an annual seminar day for families of children diagnosed with cancer in the preceding 12 months. The main objective was to explore the relationship between various measures of parental psychological health and the likelihood of attending the seminar. In line with clinical observation, the authors hypothesized that the families that did not attend the seminar day would have a higher profile of distress on a range of variables in the weeks before the seminar. The measures included current sources of support (psychosocial and material), mother-partner functioning, and maternal depression, anxiety, and stress. Of 56 families that participated, 20 also attended the seminar day. The results showed a range of clinically and statistically significant differences between families in the direction of the hypothesis. After controlling for time since diagnosis, the mother's level of psychological distress and the perceived level of discord in the mother-partner relationship were higher and more intimately related constructs in families that declined to participate in the seminar day. Overall, the results suggested that seminars, of the type discussed in the article, may be of maximal perceived relevance for families that received a diagnosis of childhood cancer within the previous three months.