PREDICTORS OF DEPRESSIVE SYMPTOMATOLOGY AMONG PARENTS OF NEWLY-DIAGNOSED CHILDREN WITH CANCER

Examined predictors of depressive symptoms among 59 parents providing primary care to children newly diagnosed with cancer. Parents were stu died for a 3-month period. The parent providing primary care to the ch ild during medical treatment completed measures of depressive symptoms , endorsement of family routines, family functioning, amount of assist ance from the spouse in providing care to the child, child behavior pr oblems, as well as measures of the severity of the child's treatment r egimen. A strong relationship was found between child behavior problem s and parent depressive symptomatology. Although disease-related facto rs such as the child's functional impairment played a role in the pare nt's depressive symptoms, results revealed that the child's behavior p roblems were most strongly associated with parent depressive symptoms and that family cohesiveness also had a contributory role in the maint enance of parent depressive symptoms.