A descriptive analysis of the social support perceptions and resources of children with cancer and their parents.

An important aspect of the psychosocial adjustment to cancer is to utilize available sources of social support. This includes support from family, friends, and medical staff. Children with cancer are unique in that they get additional support from programs such as one week summer camps. Yet children s and parents perceptions of social support from each of these resources have not been directly examined. The present research had four primary purposes: (1) to describe and assess the satisfaction with social support resources used by children and their parents to cope with the cancer experience; (2) to assess overall satisfaction with the level of social support and perceptions of family functioning and competence in children with cancer and their parents; (3) to explore the demographic, illness, social support, and familial factors that predict psychosocial adjustment in children with cancer; and (4) to describe and assess children s and parents perceptions of the cancer camp experience and their satisfaction with the services these camps provide. Subjects were forty-six children with cancer between the ages of 7 and 17, who attended one of two cancer camps, and their parents. Children were interviewed and given questionnaires to assess perceptions of social supp ort, self-concept, and intelligence. Parents were interviewed and given questionnaires to assess perceptions of social support, family functioning, child behavior, demographic and medical information. All interviews took place in the participants homes. Frequency analyses, analyses of variance, and regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Findings from the interviews highlighted the resilience these families demonstrated in coping with the cancer experience. Both children and parents were found to be quite satisfied with the support they received from their families, friends, and medical staff during the illness experience. Younger children and adolescents relied on their parents and peers for their emotional and companionship support. Subjects were forty-six children with cancer between the ages of 7 and 17, who attended one of two cancer camps, and their parents. Children were interviewed and given questionnaires to assess perceptions of social support, self-concept, and intelligence. Parents were interviewed and given questionnaires to assess perceptions of social support, family functioning, child behavior, demographic and medical information. All interviews took place in the participants homes. Frequency analyses, analyses of variance, and regression analyses were used to analyze the data. Findings from the interviews highlighted the resilience these families demonstrated in coping with the cancer experience. Both children and parents were found to be quite satisfied with the support they received from their families, friends, and medical staff during the illness experience. Younger children and adolescents relied on their parents and peers for their emotional and companionship support. Children s and parents scores on measures of social support, self-concept, family functioning, and behavioral problems were found to be comparable with the normative data for each measure. Variables relating to the child and the family were found to be predictors of adjustment for children with cancer. Almost all children and parents were quite satisfied with the services the camps were providing them. Children described themselves as using camp as a means of emotional and companionship support. Findings from the present research indicate that these children and families have adjusted well to their illness experience, and are well supported, both by formal and informal sources of support. Results are discussed in relation to the findings of other researchers in the area of social support and in relation to the limitations of the study