PSYCHOSOCIAL EFFECTS OF BREAST-CANCER ON THE PATIENTS CHILDREN

Nineteen breast cancer outpatients responded to a semistructured inter view and written measures of maternal psychosocial adjustment and chil dren's adjustment. Mothers reported on 32 children who did not differ from a normative sample on measures of emotional and behavior problems and overall competence. However, the mothers reported significantly h igher psychological distress than did a normative sample of mixed canc er patients. Hierarchical multiple regressions revealed that children whose mothers did not have serious complications associated with treat ment and whose mothers reported more psychological distress were rated as having significantly more emotional and behavior problems. Mothers who did not experience serious complications of treatment also report ed significantly lower overall competence in their children. Finally, family adaptability appeared to be related to the ability of mothers a nd children to cope with the mother's illness. The authors suggest tha t the implications include providing consultations to mothers regardin g their children's functioning, assessing their children independently , and supporting families' potential for flexibility.