Association of psychological vulnerability factors to post-traumatic stress symptomatology in mothers of pediatric cancer survivors

The current study investigated whether individual differences in coping sty le, lifetime experience of traumatic events, perceived social support, and perceived social constraints were associated with symptoms of post-traumati c stress among 72 mothers of children who had successfully completed cancer treatment. Results suggested that more perceived social constraints and le ss perceived belonging support were associated with significantly more post -traumatic stress symptomatology, and this association was present after co ntrolling for the effects of child age. Monitoring coping style and lifetim e traumatic events were not significantly predictive of post-traumatic stre ss symptoms. The results of this study indicate that a sense of belonging t o a social network as well as comfort expressing cancer-related thoughts an d feelings to fiends and family may play a key role in mothers' long-term a djustment to this extremely difficult life experience. Copyright (C) 2000 J ohn Wiley & Sons, Ltd.