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
. 2025 Jan;34(1):e70069.
doi: 10.1002/pon.70069.

Parenting and Family Concerns of Couples Navigating Advanced Breast Cancer: Exploring Discussions Around Parenting Challenges and Targets for Intervention

Juliet L Kroll  1 , Morgan Jones  2 , Sujin Ann-Yi  2 , Mariana Chavez-MacGregor  3   4 , Eduardo Bruera  1 , Kathrin Milbury  2
Affiliations

Parenting and Family Concerns of Couples Navigating Advanced Breast Cancer: Exploring Discussions Around Parenting Challenges and Targets for Intervention

Juliet L Kroll et al. Psychooncology. 2025 Jan.

Abstract

Background: Parents with advanced cancer and their partners are more likely to experience psychological distress than their counterparts without minor children. Greater relationship functioning may support parents in distress.

Aims: The current study seeks to explore couples' cancer-related parenting communication behaviors, perception and their associations with psychological and relational wellbeing.

Methods: Women diagnosed with an advanced breast cancer (Stage III-IV) and their partners (n = 46 dyads) parenting a minor child reported psychological symptoms (CES-D, GAD-7), relational wellbeing (DAS-7) and cancer-related parenting concerns (PCQ, patient only). As part of an observational task, couples completed a Family Concern Inventory (FCI) to identify cancer-related family concerns. Then, each member selected one concern to discuss. Immediately after the discussion, participants rated their perception of the discussion and their state positive and negative affect.

Results: Parents (mean age = 43.4 years, 56% non-Hispanic White, two female couples) endorsed high psychological distress, with patients reporting greater family concerns than partners (t = 3.80, p < 0.001). Both members of the couple indicated high levels of self-disclosure and felt validated and accepted by their partners during the discussion. Yet, patients rated the discussion as more helpful than partners (t = 2.3, p = 0.03). There was a small reduction in positive affect following discussion for partners only. However, the more partners disclosed their emotions, the greater their post-discussion positive affect (r = 0.50, p < 0.001).

Conclusions: Couples' ability to openly communicate around cancer-related parenting concerns is associated with aspects of psychological adjustment. Findings identify targets and underscore importance of flexibility for future interventions.

Keywords: cancer; end‐of‐life; metastatic breast cancer; oncology; palliative care; parents; spousal caregivers; spousal observation task.

PubMed Disclaimer

Conflict of interest statement

The authors declare no conflicts of interest.

Similar articles

See all similar articles

References

    1. Weaver K. E., Rowland J. H., Alfano C. M., and McNeel T. S., “Parental Cancer and the Family: A Population‐Based Estimate of the Number of US Cancer Survivors Residing With Their Minor Children,” Cancer 116, no. 18 (2010): 4395–4401, 10.1002/cncr.25368. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Chien S. A., Deal A. M., Heiling H. M., et al., “Patients With Advanced Cancer and Minor Children: An Exploratory Study of Health‐Related Quality of Life and Satisfaction With Care,” Oncology Nursing Forum 49 (2022): 433–443. - PubMed
    1. Hamilton A. C., Donnelly D. W., Fitzpatrick D., and Coleman H. G., “Early‐Onset Cancers in Adults: A Review of Epidemiology, Supportive Care Needs and Future Research Priorities,” Cancers (Basel) 14, no. 16 (2022): 4021, 10.3390/cancers14164021. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Mills M., Rindfuss R. R., McDonald P., and te Velde E., “Why Do People Postpone Parenthood? Reasons and Social Policy Incentives,” Human Reproduction Update 17, no. 6 (2011): 848–860, 10.1093/humupd/dmr026. - DOI - PMC - PubMed
    1. Park E. M., Deal A. M., Check D. K., et al., “Parenting Concerns, Quality of Life, and Psychological Distress in Patients With Advanced Cancer,” Psychooncology 25 (2016): 942–948, 10.1002/pon.3935. - DOI - PMC - PubMed