"There is still so much ahead of us"-family functioning in families of palliative cancer patients

TY - JOUR

T1 - "There is still so much ahead of us"-family functioning in families of palliative cancer patients

AU - Kühne, Franziska

AU - Krattenmacher, Thomas

AU - Bergelt, Corinna

AU - Beierlein, Volker

AU - Herzog, Wolfgang

AU - v Klitzing, Kai

AU - Weschenfelder-Stachwitz, Heike

AU - Romer, Georg

AU - Möller, Birgit

N1 - PsycINFO Database Record (c) 2013 APA, all rights reserved.

PY - 2013/6/1

Y1 - 2013/6/1

N2 - Adopting a systems approach, parental cancer has its impact on patients, spouses, and dependent children. The purpose of the current study was to examine family functioning dependent on parental disease stage and on family member perspective in families of cancer patients with adolescent children. The cross-sectional study was conducted within a German multisite research project of families before their first child-centered counseling encounter. The sample comprised individuals nested within N = 169 families. Analyses performed included analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and intraclass correlation. Open answers were analyzed following quantitative content analysis procedures. Between 15% and 36% of family members reported dysfunctional general functioning scores. Parents indicated more dysfunctional scores on the Family Assessment Device scale Roles, and adolescents more dysfunctional Communication scores. Regarding assessment of family functioning, there was higher agreement in families with parents in a palliative situation. For adolescents with parents in palliation, incidents because of the disease tend to become more dominant, and spending time with the family tends to become even more important. As our study pointed out, parental cancer, and especially parental palliative disease, is associated with both perceived critical and positive aspects in family functioning. Supporting families in these concerns as well as encouraging perceptions of positive aspects are important components of psycho-oncological interventions for families with dependent children.

AB - Adopting a systems approach, parental cancer has its impact on patients, spouses, and dependent children. The purpose of the current study was to examine family functioning dependent on parental disease stage and on family member perspective in families of cancer patients with adolescent children. The cross-sectional study was conducted within a German multisite research project of families before their first child-centered counseling encounter. The sample comprised individuals nested within N = 169 families. Analyses performed included analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and intraclass correlation. Open answers were analyzed following quantitative content analysis procedures. Between 15% and 36% of family members reported dysfunctional general functioning scores. Parents indicated more dysfunctional scores on the Family Assessment Device scale Roles, and adolescents more dysfunctional Communication scores. Regarding assessment of family functioning, there was higher agreement in families with parents in a palliative situation. For adolescents with parents in palliation, incidents because of the disease tend to become more dominant, and spending time with the family tends to become even more important. As our study pointed out, parental cancer, and especially parental palliative disease, is associated with both perceived critical and positive aspects in family functioning. Supporting families in these concerns as well as encouraging perceptions of positive aspects are important components of psycho-oncological interventions for families with dependent children.

KW - Adolescent

KW - Adult

KW - Aged

KW - Analysis of Variance

KW - Child

KW - Child of Impaired Parents

KW - Cross-Sectional Studies

KW - Family Relations

KW - Female

KW - Germany

KW - Humans

KW - Male

KW - Middle Aged

KW - Neoplasms

KW - Palliative Care

KW - Self Report

U2 - 10.1037/a0032274

DO - 10.1037/a0032274

M3 - SCORING: Journal article

C2 - 23795629

VL - 31

SP - 181

EP - 193

JO - FAM SYST HEALTH

JF - FAM SYST HEALTH

SN - 1091-7527

IS - 2

ER -