Exploring the Mental Health of Parents Having Children With Cancer

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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Caring for children with cancer is described as life-changing experience and overwhelming stress for parents. Poor quality of life and mental health problems such as depression and anxiety were found in this population. The psychological status of them is still waited to be improved. As a dominant term in positive psychology, resilience is commonly regarded as the ability to move forward or keep normal under adversity. It was proved to be associated with psychological outcomes in adolescents and chronic illness patients, enhanced resilience usually along with improved mental health, while little evidence was available in the parents of children with cancer. A cross-sectional study will be conducted to explore the level of resilience and psychological outcomes such as quality of life, depression, anxiety and well-being in parents of children with cancer using questionnaires. Such results will be compared with normal population to help evaluate the psychological status of those parents. The relationship between resilience and these psychological outcomes will also be examined. Lower resilience and higher resilience of the parents will be determined by the lowest and highest quartile of The Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC) scores. Subsequently, a qualitative study will be conducted to explore the experience of those parents with lower resilience and higher resilience. It is anticipated that risk parents of children with cancer could be identified from the inferior outcomes of resilience and psychological outcomes. Both the results of cross-sectional study and qualitative study will guide the development of interventions designed to enhance resilience and promote positive psychological outcomes among targeted parents of children with cancer under risk.

Official Title
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An Exploratory Study of Resilience in Parents of Children With Cancer

Conditions
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Resilience of Parents Having Children With Cancer

Intervention / Treatment
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* Other: Exposure_having children with cancer


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: have a child (0-19 years old) with cancer diagnosis. Chinese resident and can read Chinese and speak Mandarin. Exclusion Criteria: have physical impairment or cognitive and learning problems identified from family history of medical records. attending other researches.
Sexes Eligible for Study
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All

Accepts Healthy Volunteers
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Accepts Healthy Volunteers

Study Plan
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How is the study designed?
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Arms and Interventions

| Participant Group/Arm | Intervention/Treatment |
| --- | --- |
| parents having children with cancer<br>No intervention. | Other: Exposure_having children with cancer<br>* No intervention. The exposure is having children with cancer.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Resilience measurement by using the Connor-Davidson resilience scale. | Resilience of parents having children with cancer will be measured. The total score ranges from 0-100 and higher score reflecting higher level of resilience. | A cross-sectional study will be conducted during September 2018 and January 2019. The measurement will be taken once for each participant. | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Quality of life measurement by using the Short Form 6D (SF-6D). | Quality of life of parents having children with cancer will be measured. The total score ranges from 0.32 for the worst health state to 1 for full health. | A cross-sectional study will be conducted during September 2018 and January 2019. The measurement will be taken once for each participant. | 
| Depression measurement by using self-rating depression scale. | Depression of parents having children with cancer will be measured. The total score ranges from 20 to 80. Higher total score indicates more serious depression status. | A cross-sectional study will be conducted during September 2018 and January 2019. The measurement will be taken once for each participant. | 
| Anxiety measurement by using self-rating anxiety scale. | Anxiety of parents having children with cancer will be measured. The total score ranges from 25 to 100 and higher score reflects worse anxiety status. | A cross-sectional study will be conducted during September 2018 and January 2019. The measurement will be taken once for each participant. | 
| Stress measurement by using perceived stress scale. | Stress of parents having children with cancer will be measured. The total score ranges from 0 to 40. Higher total score suggests more perceived stress. | A cross-sectional study will be conducted during September 2018 and January 2019. The measurement will be taken once for each participant. |