Long-term effects of a parenting program for advanced cancer: A randomized controlled trial
Kristin Griffith, Frances Marcus LewisAbstract
Objectives
This study examines effects over time of a telephone-delivered 5-session manualized parenting education program for child-rearing parents with advanced cancer. Primary outcomes were parents’ depressed mood and anxiety, parenting skills, parenting self-efficacy, and child behavioral-emotional adjustment.
Methods
A total of 84 child-rearing parents diagnosed with advanced, non-curable cancer were recruited from community and comprehensive cancer centers and service providers serving cancer patients. After obtaining signed informed consent and baseline questionnaires, parents were randomized to an experimental treatment group or to an alternative treatment control group. Data (3, 6, and 9 months) were obtained after baseline. Linear Mixed Models were used to compare baseline with 6- and 9-month follow-ups. Outcomes at 3 months were reported earlier.
Results
Of the 84 parents initially randomized, 24 participants completed all data collection time periods. Mixed model analysis showed a significant change in parenting skills over all time periods that benefited the experimental group. There was also a significant improvement in parents’ self-efficacy at 6 and 9 months, which benefited the control group.
Significance of results
This is the first known longitudinal study of child and parent-reported outcomes from a randomized controlled trial of a manualized cancer parenting program for parents with advanced cancer. All results should be viewed with caution given the small sample size and the loss of 71% of the participants from baseline to 9 months. Despite these limitations, Linear Mixed Models analysis showed clinically significant improvements in parenting skills over time compared to an alternative treatment control group.