Association of Maternal Anxiety, Perceptions of Child Prognosis, and Coping with Maternal Supportiveness for Children with Cancer

Abstract

Over 12,400 children in the United States are diagnosed with cancer annually. The diagnosis and treatment of cancer can create significant amounts of stress for the mothers of these children. While facing this stress, mothers are traditionally expected to serve as primary sources of emotional support to assist their children in dealing with the illness. A variety of factors may hinder the ability to provide emotional support, including psychological distress (anxiety), perceptions of cancer prognosis, and the specific coping mechanisms employed to deal with the stress of having a child with cancer. This paper explores how maternal anxiety, perception of prognosis, and coping may independently or jointly affect maternal emotional supportiveness for children with cancer.