Understanding the Psychosocial Needs of Parents Who Have Lost a Child to Cancer

Study Overview
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Brief Summary
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The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences and needs of parents who have lost a child to cancer. This will aid us in developing an intervention that may help parents cope with their loss.

Official Title
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Understanding the Psychosocial Needs of Parents Who Have Lost a Child to Cancer

Conditions
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Parents Who Have Lost a Child to Cancer

Intervention / Treatment
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* Behavioral: Questionnaires/Interviews


Participation Criteria
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Eligibility Criteria
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Inclusion Criteria: Loss of a child to cancer between 6 months and 6 years ago Loss of a child between the ages of 6 months and 25 years Biological or adoptive parent or stepparent Parent must be age 18 or over In the judgment of investigators/consenting professionals able to comprehend English to complete study assessments To be eligible for the qualitative interview, participants more score of 19 or less (< 19)or 34 or greater (> 34) on the PG-13 to qualify Exclusion Criteria: Significant psychiatric disturbance sufficient, in the investigator's judgment, to preclude completion of the assessment measures, interview or informed consent.

Ages Eligible for Study
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Minimum Age: 18 Years

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 Who Have Lost a Child to Cancer<br>The overall goal of the proposed cross-sectional study is to obtain information necessary to the development of an effective Meaning-Centered Grief Intervention for parents who lost a child to cancer. In order to identify a subset of parents with whom we will conduct qualitative interviews with a subset of participants to address Aims 1 and 2, we will first screen participants to determine their levels of Prolonged Grief Disorder symptoms using a quantitative assessment (PG-13). The screening measure (PG-13) and the additional questionnaires included in the quantitative battery of measures will be analyzed to achieve Aim 3. | Behavioral: Questionnaires/Interviews<br>* Prior to the interview, the measure of prolonged grief disorder symptoms, the PG-13, will be re-administered to participants as a quality assurance check. We will administer 7 self-report measures, which participants can complete in our office, at home, or via telephone, depending on their preferences. These questionnaires should take approximately 75 to 80 minutes to complete. If you are asked to take part in the in-depth interview and you choose to take part, the interview that will take approximately 60 to 90 minutes to complete, depending on the length of the responses to the questions asked. The participant may also be asked if they would be willing to fill out an additional questionnaire about parents' thoughts on the most appropriate timing for raising the topic of a postmortem examination and factors that are important to include in discussions. Despite its importance, autopsy is often not discussed with parents whose child is dying from cancer.<br>|

What is the study measuring?
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Primary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Identify the unique qualitative themes related to finding meaning among parents who lost a child to cancer to inform development of a conceptually sound meaning-centered grief intervention. |  | 2 years | 

Secondary Outcome Measures

| Outcome Measure | Measure Description | Time Frame |
| --- | --- | --- |
| Determine differences in qualitative themes of meaning in parents in the high and low Prolonged Grief Disorder subgroups to help select a target population for a meaning-centered grief intervention. |  | 2 years | 
| Explore and identify factors associated with bereaved parents' psychosocial service underutilization to guide the development of an acceptable and feasible meaning-centered grief intervention format. |  | 2 years | 

 Terms related to the study
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Keywords Provided by Centre Hospitalier Valida
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Grief, bereavement, questionnaires, 09-107