BRIEF REPORT - PARENTING STRESS AND QUALITY-OF-LIFE DURING TREATMENT FOR CHILDHOOD LEUKEMIA PREDICTS CHILD AND PARENT ADJUSTMENT AFTER TREATMENT ENDS

Evaluated relationships between parenting stress and parent-rated chil d quality of life during treatment for childhood leukemia and later pa rental posttraumatic stress symptoms and parent and child anxiety afte r-completion of cancer treatment in 29 families of patients with leuke mia. Correlations among in-treatment and off-treatment variables showe d strong patterns of association between parenting stress during treat ment and later parental adjustment, for both mothers and fathers. Pare nt-rated child quality of life was also significantly associated with later adjustment for mothers and children. Despite the small sample, d ata point to the importance and consistency of parental reactions from diagnosis through the end of treatment and have clinical implications for psychosocial services during and after treatment.