Children's Resiliency, Adjustment, and Coping
Condition: Leukemia
MeSH terms: Leukemia
Study type: Observational

Summary: 
      Overall Objective:

      The overall objective of this cross-sectional psychosocial study is to examine
      illness-related factors, family context factors, and child resiliency as predictors or
      correlates of child adjustment to leukemia treatment.

      Primary Objective 1:

      1(a): To examine illness-related factors (i.e., child's health and physical functioning and
      severity of the child's illness) as predictors of child psychological adjustment to leukemia.

      1(b): To examine relapse status as a grouping variable affecting child psychological
      adjustment to leukemia.

      1(c): To examine stage of treatment as a grouping variable affecting child psychological
      adjustment to leukemia.

      Primary Objective 2:

      -To examine family context factors (i.e., family psychosocial risk and parental emotional
      distress) as correlates of child psychosocial adjustment to leukemia treatment.

      Primary Objective 3:

      -To examine child resiliency as a predictor of child psychological adjustment to leukemia
      treatment.

      Secondary Objectives:

        -  One secondary objective of the study is to examine parental distress as a moderator
           affecting parental report of child adjustment to leukemia as compared to the child's
           self-report of adjustment.

        -  Another secondary objective of the study is to develop a model by which the relative
           contribution of each predictor variable (as determined by analyses of primary
           objectives) as well as their interrelatedness can be understood in relation to child
           psychosocial adjustment.

        -  A third secondary objective of the study is to examine demographic variables as
           covariates in the main analyses. These variables include: age, grade, site, gender,
           ethnicity, type of leukemia, staging, time spent in treatment, age at diagnosis, and
           whether the child is undergoing standard or experimental treatment.
    

Detailed description: 
      Parental Consent/Child Assent for Child Participants:

      If you choose to take part in this study, you will be asked to complete a total of 2 or 3
      questionnaires (depending on your age). Each questionnaire will be completed only once.

      If you are between 6-7 years old, you will be given 2 questionnaires asking you about your
      physical health and illness, and your personal strengths. These questionnaires will take you
      about 30-45 minutes to finish. If you are between 8-18 years old, you will be given 3
      questionnaires that will ask you about your physical health and illness, your personal
      strengths, and your emotional adjustment to the disease. These 3 questionnaires will take you
      about 30-45 minutes in total to finish. A research assistant will help you with the
      questionnaires, if you need help.

      If you are given the questionnaires while you are at the hospital and you cannot complete
      them before you leave, you will be given a stamped envelope to mail the forms back to the
      study staff.

      After your questionnaires are finished, a member of the research team might look at your
      medical chart if they need more information about your treatment or the status of the
      disease.

      Parent Participants:

      If you choose to take part in this study, you will be asked to complete a total of 5
      questionnaires. These questionnaires ask information about your child's emotional adjustment
      to the disease, your child's physical health and illness, your child's personal strengths,
      your emotional distress, and the overall functioning of your family. Each questionnaire will
      be completed only once. It will take about 45-60 minutes to complete all 5 questionnaires.

      Medical Staff Participants:

      If you choose to take part in this study, you will be asked to complete a questionnaire that
      asks for information about the patient's illness. It will take about 3-5 minutes to complete
      this one-time survey.

      All Groups:

      This is an investigational study. About 220 people (100 children, 100 parents, and 20 medical
      staff) will take part in this multicenter study. About 130 will be enrolled at M. D. Anderson
      (60 children, 60 parents, and 10 medical staff members).
    

Intervention name(s): Questionnaire
Intervention type(s): Behavioral
Intervention description(s): Questionnaires administered to pediatric patients and their parent(s) or caregiver(s).
Other intervention name(s): Survey
Observational model: Case-Only
Time perspective: Prospective
Sampling method: Probability Sample
Study population: 
        Children with a diagnosis of leukemia and their parent(s) or caregiver(s).
      
Keywords: Leukemia; Pediatrics; Cancer; Coping; Caregiver; Questionnaire; Children; Resiliency; Adjustment; Illness-related factors