The objective of this study is to portray the illness-related threats experienced by parents of children after the diagnosis of central nervous system (CNS) tumor. Parents were asked to rate the extent to which they experienced a set of specific fears related to their child's brain tumor and its treatment. Outcomes for parents of CNS tumor patients (n = 82) were compared with those of reference parents of patients treated for acute lymphoblastic leukemia (n = 208). The fears about an illness recurrence and the late effects of treatment were most prominent among parents of CNS tumor patients. For 7 out of 11 kinds of fear, parents of CNS tumor patients expressed a stronger fear than the reference group. More than a quarter of the parents of children treated for CNS tumors feared a complete decline of the child. Parents of CNS tumor patients experience relatively heightened cancer related fears in several domains. The fear of devastating consequences felt by one fourth of parents signals the need of individualized psychological support and information at diagnosis and follow-up to facilitate parental coping with the posttreatment situation.

Background

Parents of children with chronic conditions often experience a crisis with serious mental health problems for themselves as a consequence. The healthcare focus is on the children; however, the parents often worry about their children's health and future but are seldom offered any counselling or guidance.

Aim

The aim of this study was to investigate the effectiveness of two group-based behavioural interventions on stress and burnout among parents of children with chronic conditions.

Design, participants and setting

After a waiting list control period (n = 28), parents were offered either a cognitive behavioural (CBT, n = 10) or a mindfulness program (MF, n = 9).

Results

Both interventions decreased significantly stress and burnout. The within-group effect sizes were large in both interventions (CBT, g = 1.28–1.64; MF, g = 1.25–2.20).

Conclusions

Hence, the results of this pilot study show that treating a group using either CBT or mindfulness can be an efficient intervention for reducing stress levels and burnout in parents of children with chronic conditions.

Background: Research on parents of children with chronic conditions has shown that this parent group frequently suffers from psychological problems such as deteriorating life quality and stress-related disorders. Objective: The present feasibility study focuses on Health-Related Quality of Life (HRQOL) and life satisfaction of parents of children with chronic conditions. Method: The study was conducted using a repeated measures design and applied either group-based cognitive behavioural therapy (CBT; n = 10) or a group-based mindfulness programme (MF; n = 9). The study participants were wait-listed for six months. Results:The results indicate improvements for participants in both treatment groups regarding certain areas of HRQOL and life satisfaction. After eight group therapy sessions, parents in the two treatment groups significantly improved their Mental Component Summary (MCS) scores as well as their scores on the mental subscales Vitality, Social functioning, Role emotional and Mental health. In addition, some of the physical subscales, Role physical, Bodily pain and General health, showed considerable improvement for the MF group. When testing for clinical significance by comparing the samples with mean values of a norm population, the MCS scores were significantly lower at pre-measurements, but no significant differences were observed post-measurement. For the Physical component summary (PCS) scores, a significantly higher score was observed at post-measurement when compared to the norm population. Moreover, the results indicate improvement in life satisfaction regarding Spare time, Relation to child and Relation to partner. Conclusion: The study concludes that CBT and mindfulness may have a positive effect on areas of HRQOL and life satisfaction.