Brief report: Parenting stress and quality of life during treatment for childhood leukemia predicts child and parent adjustment after treatment ends

Evaluated relationships between parenting stress and parent-rated child quality of life during treatment for childhood leukemia and later parental posttraumatic stress symptoms and parent and child anxiety after-completion of cancer treatment in 29 families of patients with leukemia. Correlations among in-treatment and off-treatment variables showed strong patterns of association between parenting stress during treatment and later parental adjustment, for both mothers and fathers. Parent-rated child quality of life was also significantly associated with later adjustment for mothers and children. Despite the small sample, data point to the importance and consistency of parental reactions from diagnosis through the end of treatment and have clinical implications for psychosocial services during and after treatment.