Skip to main page content
U.S. flag

An official website of the United States government

Dot gov

The .gov means it’s official.
Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Before sharing sensitive information, make sure you’re on a federal government site.

Https

The site is secure.
The https:// ensures that you are connecting to the official website and that any information you provide is encrypted and transmitted securely.

Access keys NCBI Homepage MyNCBI Homepage Main Content Main Navigation
Multicenter Study
. 2013 Sep 4;5(6):81-99.
doi: 10.5539/gjhs.v5n6p81.

Predictors of stress of parents of a child with cancer: a Jordanian perspective

Rami Masa'Deh  1 , Jacqueline Collier, Carol Hall, Fadwa Alhalaiqa
Affiliations
Multicenter Study

Predictors of stress of parents of a child with cancer: a Jordanian perspective

Rami Masa'Deh et al. Glob J Health Sci. .

Abstract

Background: Most paediatric oncology studies agree that being parents of a child with cancer is an emotionally stressful event. Although an increasing number of studies have investigated psychological stress of parents of a child with cancer, few of these studies have included both parents or investigated the predictors of high stress levels for the mothers and the fathers. Moreover, studies published over the last few decades were limited to Western countries and have shown inconsistent findings about parental perceived stress whose children have cancer. This study explored differences in predictors of perceived stress between Jordanian mothers and fathers of children with cancer.

Methods: This study involved a survey of 300 couples parenting a child with cancer. Participants answered the Arabic version of the Perceived Stress Scale 10-items, demographic and characteristics check list questionnaires. The main aims were to measure perceived stress levels for mothers and fathers, explore the predictors associated with high perceived stress levels and make a comparison between them.

Findings: Mothers reported significantly higher stress levels than fathers (p<0.001), with a large effect size (0.30). Some of the factors associated with mothers and fathers high stress levels affected both parents whereas employment status affected only fathers' stress levels.

Conclusions: These findings indicate the need to work with the mothers and the fathers with a child with cancer in Jordan to recognise their psychological needs at the time of diagnosis and followed by on-going psychological support for both parents.

PubMed Disclaimer

Figures

Figure 1
Figure 1
Proposed parental stress model
Figure 2
Figure 2
Predictors of maternal stress
Figure 3
Figure 3
Predictors of paternal stress
See this image and copyright information in PMC

Similar articles

See all similar articles

Cited by

References

    1. Al-Hassan M, Wierenga M. Exercise participation decisions of Jordanian myocardial infarction patients: application of the decisional conflict theory. International journal of nursing studies. 2000;37(2):119–126. http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/S0020-7489(99)00065-6 . - PubMed
    1. Aldwin C. M, Sutton K. J, Chiara G, Spiro A. Age Differences in Stress, Coping, and Appraisal: Findings from the Normative Aging Study. The Journals of Gerontology Series B: Psychological Sciences and Social Sciences. 1996;51B(4):P179–P188. http://dx.doi.org/10.1093/geronb/51B.4.P179 . - PubMed
    1. American National Cancer Institute. Definition of Cancer. 2012. [Retrieved 09 January, 2012]. from http://www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/what-is-cancer .
    1. Ångström-Brännström C, Norberg A, Strandberg G, Söderberg A, Dahlqvist V. Parents’ Experiences of What Comforts Them When Their Child is Suffering From Cancer. Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing. 2010;27(5):266–275. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1043454210364623 . - PubMed
    1. Bakker A. B, Demerouti E, Schaufeli W. B. The crossover of burnout and work engagement among working couples. Human Relations. 2005;58(5):661–689. http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/0018726705055967 .

Publication types