School of Nursing, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Lineberger Comprehensive Cancer Center, University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, Chapel Hill, North Carolina, USA.
Pediatr Blood Cancer. 2021 Aug;68(8):e29080. doi: 10.1002/pbc.29080. Epub 2021 Apr 24.
Treatment for pediatric cancer generates costs that place sizeable demands on family finances relative to household income. Little is known about whether children sense that their cancer has created financial problems for the family. The study purpose was to describe parents' perceptions about whether their child sensed that pediatric cancer created financial problems for their family.
Family Communications Theory informed our study. We used descriptive statistics and content analysis to examine parents' (n = 417) responses to questions about the child's sense of pediatric cancer-related financial problems from a larger survey study.
Approximately 56.2% of parents indicated that their child had no sense of the pediatric cancer-related financial problems and 44.1% indicated their child had some. Proportions of children perceived to sense these financial problems steadily increased with age grouping, while proportions perceived to have none declined. With content analysis, we identified cognitive capacity as the key child factor influencing children's sense of these problems. Influential context factors included social norms, observed changes in family routines and spending patterns, and overheard conversations between adults. Child psychological outcomes included guilt, anxiety about money, and feelings of being a burden.
Pediatric oncology professionals and staff should be mindful of parent preferences about burdening children with sensitive financial information, and modify their behaviors and processes accordingly. They can also provide anticipatory guidance and psycho-education about psychological responses related to the effects of pediatric cancer on family finances and the role of cognitive development in the evolution of children's awareness of those effects.
儿童癌症的治疗费用相对于家庭收入而言，给家庭财务带来了相当大的负担。对于儿童是否能感觉到癌症给家庭带来了经济问题，知之甚少。本研究旨在描述父母对孩子是否感觉到癌症给家庭带来经济问题的看法。
家庭沟通理论为我们的研究提供了依据。我们使用描述性统计和内容分析方法，对来自更大规模调查研究的 417 名家长关于孩子对儿科癌症相关经济问题的看法的问题进行了分析。
约 56.2%的家长表示，他们的孩子没有感觉到与儿科癌症相关的经济问题，44.1%的家长表示他们的孩子有一些感觉。随着年龄分组，感知到这些经济问题的儿童比例稳步上升，而感知到没有这些问题的儿童比例则下降。通过内容分析，我们确定认知能力是影响儿童感知这些问题的关键因素。有影响力的情境因素包括社会规范、家庭日常生活和支出模式的变化以及成人之间的对话。儿童的心理后果包括内疚、对金钱的焦虑和感到自己是负担。
儿科肿瘤学专业人员和工作人员应该注意到家长对让孩子承担敏感财务信息的偏好，并相应地调整他们的行为和流程。他们还可以提供有关儿科癌症对家庭财务影响的心理反应以及认知发展在儿童对这些影响的意识演变中的作用的预期指导和心理教育。
