Pediatric Cancer
Conditions
Keywords
Pediatric cancer, Coping
Brief summary
Childhood cancer patients and their parents are faced with significant stress at the time of diagnosis, during treatment, and over the course of recovery. The stress of cancer and its treatment can lead to significant emotional distress for many families. However, most families do not have access to programs that offer support for coping with cancer-related stress. The proposed work will address this gap by testing of the possible benefits of a novel internet delivered program to support children with cancer and their parents in coping with and communicating about a child's cancer. The research team includes experts from Vanderbilt University and Nationwide Children's Hospital with experience in pediatric oncology; stress, coping, and family communication in pediatric cancer; internet interventions in pediatric populations; and family-focused interventions to build coping and parenting skills. The study will test the effects of this program in 150 families of children with newly diagnosed cancer on reducing emotional distress up to 12 months after participation in the program. This project has the potential to lead to an evidence-based program to improve quality of life and resilience in children with cancer and their parents that can be easily and widely disseminated.
Detailed description
Childhood cancer patients and their parents are faced with significant stress at the time of diagnosis, during treatment, and over the course of recovery. The stress of cancer and its treatment can lead to significant emotional distress for many families. However, most families do not have access to programs that offer support for coping with cancer-related stress. The proposed work will address this gap by testing of the possible benefits of a novel internet delivered program to support children with cancer and their parents in coping with and communicating about a child's cancer. This online program includes modules to teach parenting, communication and coping skills to parents of children with cancer, and coping skills to their children who have been recently diagnosed with cancer. The research team includes experts from Vanderbilt University and Nationwide Children's Hospital with experience in pediatric oncology; stress, coping, and family communication in pediatric cancer; internet interventions in pediatric populations; and family-focused interventions to build coping and parenting skills. The study will test the effects of this program in 150 families of children with newly diagnosed cancer on reducing emotional distress up to 12 months after participation in the program. This project has the potential to lead to an evidence-based program to improve quality of life and resilience in children with cancer and their parents that can be easily and widely disseminated.
Interventions
BEHAVIORALOnline Program to Support Coping and Communication in Families
Parents and children will access online materials designed to support the use of effective ways to cope with the diagnosis and treatment of cancer and to support open and communication.
Sponsors
Nationwide Children's Hospital
Vanderbilt University
Study design
Allocation
RANDOMIZED
Intervention model
CROSSOVER
Primary purpose
SUPPORTIVE_CARE
Masking
NONE
Intervention model description
Recruitment and randomization of participants into an online support program vs. usual care. Participants in the usual care condition offered the program after 6 months.
Eligibility
Sex/Gender
ALL
Age
10 Years to 17 Years
Healthy volunteers
No
Inclusion criteria
* Child from ages 10 to 17 years old who has been diagnosed with cancer
Exclusion criteria
* Significant intellectual disability that would interfere with completing the online program
Design outcomes
Primary
| Measure | Time frame | Description |
|---|---|---|
| Change in Total Behavior Problems on the Child Behavior Checklist from baseline to 6 months | The Child Behavior Checklist will be completed near the time of entry into the study and repeated at 6 month follow ups | Change in parents' report on the Child Behavior Checklist (a measure of their children's total emotional and behavioral problems). |
| Change in Total Behavior Problems on the Youth Self Report from baseline to 6 months | This measure will be completed near the time of entry into the study and repeated at 6 month follow ups | Change in children's report on the Youth Self Report (a measure of their children's total emotional and behavioral problems). |
Countries
United States
Outcome results
None listed