TY - JOUR A1 - Krattenmacher, Thomas A1 - Kühne, Franziska A1 - Führer, Daniel A1 - Beierlein, Volker A1 - Brähler, Elmar A1 - Resch, Franz A1 - Klitzing, Kai V. A1 - Flechtner, Hans-Henning A1 - Bergelt, Corinna A1 - Romer, Georg A1 - Möller, Birgit T1 - Coping skills and mental health status in adolescents when a parent has cancer: a multicenter and multi-perspective study JF - Journal of psychosomatic research N2 - OBJECTIVE Parental cancer increases the risk of psychosocial problems in adolescents. We investigated the frequency and efficacy of adolescents' coping strategies and relationships between those strategies and mental health status. Age and gender differences regarding coping and mental health were also investigated. METHODS In total, 214 adolescents from 167 families participated in a cross-sectional, multicenter study. All participants were recruited from standard oncological care. Among the participants, 52% utilized a child-centered intervention program. Adolescents' coping skills were measured using KIDCOPE. Mental health status was rated by adolescents and parents by the SDQ for symptomatology and the KIDSCREEN for well-being. RESULTS We found that 29% of the adolescents showed emotional and behavioral problems. We found gender differences in mental health status but not in coping. Adolescents used a broad spectrum of coping strategies. Active problem-solving, distraction, acceptance, wishful thinking and seeking social support were the most frequently used coping strategies. The utilization of certain coping skills was mediated by their perceived efficacy. Problem-focused or approach-oriented coping strategies generally are associated with better mental health, while avoidance-oriented coping are associated with worse mental health. Emotion-focused coping was associated with both lower and higher mental health. CONCLUSION The strategies used by adolescents to cope with parental cancer are associated with their mental health. Problem-solving and approach-oriented coping strategies should be facilitated by psychological interventions regardless of age and gender. Age and gender differences in adolescents' mental health should be further investigated because these differences are not explained by differences in coping strategies. KW - Adaptation KW - Psychological/classification/physiology KW - Adolescent KW - Adult KW - Age Factors KW - Aged KW - Child KW - Cross-Sectional Studies KW - Female KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Mental Disorders/epidemiology/etiology KW - Middle Aged KW - Neoplasms/psychology KW - Parents KW - Psychiatric Status Rating Scales Y1 - 2013 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2012.10.003 VL - 74 SP - 252 EP - 259 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Krattenmacher, Thomas A1 - Kühne, Franziska A1 - Führer, Daniel A1 - Ernst, Johanna A1 - Brähler, Elmar A1 - Herzog, Wolfgang A1 - Klitzing, Kai A1 - Flechtner, Hans-Henning A1 - Bergelt, Corinna A1 - Romer, Georg A1 - Möller, Birgit T1 - Kinder krebskranker Eltern - elterliches Coping, familiäres Funktionsniveau und psychosoziale Anpassung der Kinder JF - Praxis der Kinderpsychologie und Kinderpsychiatrie N2 - Children exposed to parental cancer have an increased risk of mental health problems. However, the parental illness itself and its features do not predict children's psychological adjustment. Parent- and family-related factors are more predictive for children's well-being and the incidence of psychopathological symptoms, respectively. This study focuses on parental ways of coping with illness from both, the ill and healthy parent's perspective, and the relationship with family functioning and children's adjustment. Results show a significant impact of parental coping styles on children's health-related quality of life and psychopathological symptoms and, furthermore, that this relationship is mediated by aspects of family functioning. This study support the importance of family systems approaches. Implications for further studies and practical issues are discussed. KW - Adaptation KW - Psychological KW - Adolescent KW - Adult KW - Child KW - Child of Impaired Parents/psychology KW - Preschool KW - Family Relations KW - Female KW - Germany KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Neoplasms/psychology KW - Parents/psychology KW - Quality of Life/psychology KW - Social Adjustment KW - Surveys and Questionnaires Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.13109/prkk.2012.61.6.447 SN - 0032-7034 VL - 61 SP - 447 EP - 462 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Beierlein, Volker A1 - Bultmann, Johanna Christine A1 - Möller, Birgit A1 - Klitzing, Kai A1 - Flechtner, Hans-Henning A1 - Resch, Franz A1 - Herzog, Wolfgang A1 - Brähler, Elmar A1 - Führer, Daniel A1 - Romer, Georg A1 - Koch, Uwe A1 - Bergelt, Corinna T1 - Measuring family functioning in families with parental cancer: Reliability and validity of the German adaptation of the Family Assessment Device (FAD) JF - Journal of psychosomatic research N2 - OBJECTIVE The concept of family functioning is gaining importance in psycho-oncology research and health care services. The Family Assessment Device (FAD) is a well-established measure of family functioning. Psychometric properties inherent in the German 51-item adaptation of the FAD are examined in different samples of families with parental cancer. METHODS Acceptance, reliability, and validity of FAD scales are analysed in samples from different study settings (N=1701 cancer patients, N=261 partners, N=158 dependent adolescent children 11 to 18years old). RESULTS Missing items in the FAD scales (acceptance) are rare for adults (<1.1%) and adolescent children (<4.4%). In samples of adults and older adolescents (15 to 18years), all FAD scales except for the Roles scale are significantly reliable (0.75≤Cronbach's α≤0.88). The scales correlate highly (0.46≤Pearson's r≤0.59) with the criterion satisfaction with family life (convergent validity), and have smaller correlations (0.16≤r≤0.49) with measures of emotional distress and subjective well-being (divergent validity). In most FAD scales, adults seeking family counselling report worse family functioning (0.24≤Cohen's d≤0.59) than adults in other samples with parental cancer (discriminative validity). CONCLUSION Overall, the German 51-item adaptation of the FAD reveals good acceptance, reliability, and validity for cancer patients and their relatives. Particularly the scale General Functioning shows excellent psychometric properties. The FAD is suitable in the assessment of families with parental cancer for adults and adolescents older than 11years. KW - Adolescent KW - Adult KW - Child KW - Cross-Cultural Comparison KW - Family Relations/psychology KW - Female KW - Germany KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Parents/psychology KW - Psychometrics/statistics {\&} numerical data KW - Reproducibility of Results KW - Statistics as Topic KW - Surveys and Questionnaires Y1 - 2017 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.jpsychores.2016.11.007 VL - 93 SP - 110 EP - 117 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kühne, Franziska A1 - Krattenmacher, Thomas A1 - Bergelt, Corinna A1 - Bierbaum, Anna-Lena A1 - Christine Ernst, Johanna A1 - Flechtner, Hans-Henning A1 - Keller, Monika A1 - Klitzing, Kai V. A1 - Romer, Georg A1 - Möller, Birgit T1 - Elternschaft und Krebserkrankung: Dyadische Analyse von psychosozialer Belastung und gesundheitsbezogener Lebensqualität von krebskranken Eltern minderjähriger Kinder JF - Psychotherapie, Psychosomatik, medizinische Psychologie N2 - The purpose of this study was the analysis of psychological distress and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) of parents with minor children during curative resp. palliative treatment.Cross-sectional design with a sample of N=89 parent dyads. Dyadic analysis of demographic, illness and family variables via mixed linear models.Patients and healthy partners indicated psychological distress on different subscales. Intradyadic correlations were small-moderate. Most important predictors of psychological distress and HRQoL were treatment stadium, gender, family functioning, and employment status.Dependent on demographic variables, psychooncological support was evident mainly for parents in palliative care and for families with dysfunctional functioning. KW - Adult KW - Child KW - Preschool KW - Cross-Sectional Studies KW - Employment KW - Family KW - Female KW - Humans KW - Infant KW - Linear Models KW - Male KW - Middle Aged KW - Neoplasms/complications/psychology KW - Neuropsychological Tests KW - Palliative Care KW - Parents/psychology KW - Psychiatric Status Rating Scales KW - Quality of Life KW - Stress KW - Psychological/etiology/psychology Y1 - 2013 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1055/s-0033-1341454 VL - 63 SP - 473 EP - 481 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Kühne, Franziska A1 - Krattenmacher, Thomas A1 - Bergelt, Corinna A1 - Ernst, Johanna C. A1 - Flechtner, Hans-Henning A1 - Führer, Daniel A1 - Herzog, Wolfgang A1 - Klitzing, Kai V. A1 - Romer, Georg A1 - Möller, Birgit T1 - Parental palliative cancer: psychosocial adjustment and health-related quality of life in adolescents participating in a German family counselling service JF - BMC palliative care N2 - UNLABELLED BACKGROUND Parental palliative disease is a family affair, however adolescent's well-being and coping are still rarely considered. The objectives of this paper were a) to identify differences in psychosocial adjustment and health-related quality of life (HRQoL) among adolescents and young adults with parents suffering from palliative cancer or cancers in other disease stages, b) to relate psychosocial adjustment and health-related quality of life to adolescent coping, and c) to explore significant mediator and predictor variables. METHODS Cross-sectional data were derived from a multi-site research study of families before child-centered counselling. N=86 adolescents and young adults were included, their mean age 13.78 years (sd 2.45), 56% being female. Performed analyses included ANCOVA, multiple linear regression, and mediation analysis. RESULTS Adolescents with parents suffering from palliative cancers reported significantly less total psychosocial problems, and better overall HRQoL. There were no significant group differences regarding coping frequency and efficacy. Our set of coping items significantly mediated the effect of parental disease stage on psychosocial problems and HRQoL. Further, parental disease status and general family functioning predicted psychosocial problems (R2adj =.390) and HRQoL (R2adj =.239) best. CONCLUSION The study indicates distress among adolescents throughout the entire parental disease process. Our analysis suggests that counselling services could offer supportive interventions which focus particularly on adolescent coping as well as family functioning. Y1 - 2012 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1186/1472-684X-11-21 VL - 11 SP - 21 ER - TY - JOUR A1 - Möller, Birgit A1 - Barkmann, Claus A1 - Krattenmacher, Thomas A1 - Kühne, Franziska A1 - Bergelt, Corinna A1 - Beierlein, Volker A1 - Ernst, Johanna A1 - Brähler, Elmar A1 - Flechtner, Hans-Henning A1 - Herzog, Wolfgang A1 - Klitzing, Kai A1 - Führer, Daniel A1 - Resch, Franz A1 - Romer, Georg T1 - Children of cancer patients: prevalence and predictors of emotional and behavioral problems JF - Cancer N2 - BACKGROUND Children of patients with cancer are at increased risk for developing emotional and behavioral problems. This study explored the prevalence and predictors of emotional and behavioral problems in Children of cancer patients in a multisite research project. METHODS A cross-sectional sample of N = 235 families was recruited simultaneously in 5 university medical centers. The participants, including parents (N = 402) and children (N = 324; ages 11-21 years) completed standardized questionnaires. Emotional and behavioral problems in children were measured by the Strengths and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). On the basis of previous research and using a mixed-model approach, child-, parent-, family- and cancer-related variables were examined in addition to socioeconomic status as potential predictors. Descriptive statistics and a multiple random coefficient model were used in the analyses. RESULTS Compared to norms, Children of cancer patients show increased mean levels of emotional and behavioral symptoms. The best predictor of emotional and behavioral problems from the perspectives of the child, the healthy parent, and the ill parent was general family dysfunction. Although family dysfunction was identified as the main predictor, the analysis revealed that the main part of variance was related to the individual child's level. CONCLUSIONS The results indicate that screening for child mental health problems and family dysfunction in oncological and psychosocial treatment units can identify the families most in need of psychosocial support. Psychological services need to be both family-oriented and child-centered and focus on family dysfunction to prevent mental health problems in children. KW - Adolescent KW - Adult KW - Child KW - Child Behavior Disorders/etiology KW - Child of Impaired Parents/psychology KW - Female KW - Humans KW - Male KW - Mental Disorders/etiology KW - Neoplasms/psychology KW - Parents/psychology KW - Prevalence KW - Risk Factors KW - Surveys and Questionnaires KW - Young Adult Y1 - 2014 U6 - http://dx.doi.org/10.1002/cncr.28644 VL - 120 SP - 2361 EP - 2370 ER -