Clinical trial · Interventional
Parental Support Intervention in the Oncological Context
Children Facing Parental Cancer : a Randomized Controlled Study Evaluating the Efficacy of a Psychological Intervention to Support Parenting
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
Background: Cancer has a significant short and long-term impact on the family. Children of cancer patients may suffer from emotional, behavioral or somatic difficulties. Following the cancer diagnosis, many parents report being concerned about the impact of the illness on their children and how to communicate about the illness. In addition, they feel less able to meet the needs of their children and have difficulties regulating their emotions in response to their children's reactions. Methods: A randomized controlled trial was designed to assess the efficacy of a parental guidance intervention centered on communication with children in the context of a parental cancer. This psychological intervention is designed to help parents and significant caregivers of the children. The participants are randomly assigned to either an intervention group (experimental group) or a waiting list group (control group). The participants fill out self reported questionnaires that assess the parental self-efficacy in communication, mutual social support, communicational behaviors' with children, parenting concerns,communicational difficulties with children, knowledges about communication with children in oncological context, socio-demographical status, medical situation, psychiatric history, social difficulties and emotional state of the participants and children. The semi-structured interview with participants assesses their day to day communication with the children and the difficulties related to this communication. Those questionnaires are completed at baseline and post treatment (experimental group) and 9 weeks after baseline (control group). This parental guidance consists of a weekly 4-session intervention. The aim of the sessions are to provide child support in the oncological context, mainly through communication. Discussion: This parental guidance would lead to improvements in knowledge, communication, parental self-efficacy and emotional regulation associated with child support.
Conditions
Conditions (3)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Communication Programs | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Parent-Child Relations | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Parenting | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (1)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Parental guidance | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (2)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Parental guidance
- description
- In the experimental condition, the two significant caregivers of the child or the individual caregiver receive the intervention composed of an informational booklet and a psychological intervention. The intervention consists of four sessions, centered on supporting the child in the context of parental cancer principally through communication. Assessments are conducted at two periods : before and after the intervention.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Parental guidance
- type
- NO_INTERVENTION
- label
- Waiting List group
- description
- In the control condition, the participants receive the informational booklet before being registered in a waiting list for the psychological intervention. The intervention should ideally last two months. Assessments are conducted at 9 weeks of interval.
Primary outcomes (2)
- measure
- Change of the parental self-efficacy in communication
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 3 Years
- Maximum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Significant caregiver of a child aged between 3 and 18 who's facing parental cancer * Participants must be of legal age * Participants must not have an acute psychiatric or neurological disorder * Participants must have sufficient command of French (speaking, writing, reading) * Completing a written informed consent Exclusion Criteria: * Pre-terminal or terminal stage of cancer of the parent * Death of the parent
References
Publications (16)
- BACKGROUNDRauch PK, Muriel AC. The importance of parenting concerns among patients with cancer. Crit Rev Oncol Hematol. 2004 Jan;49(1):37-42. doi: 10.1016/s1040-8428(03)00095-7. PMID 14734153
- RESULTCessna JM, Pidala J, Jacobsen PB. Relationships between parenting self-efficacy and distress in parents who have school-aged children and have been treated with hematopoietic stem cell transplant or have no cancer history. Psychooncology. 2016 Mar;25(3):339-46. doi: 10.1002/pon.3848. Epub 2015 May 12. PMID 25967755
- RESULTEllis SJ, Wakefield CE, Antill G, Burns M, Patterson P. Supporting children facing a parent's cancer diagnosis: a systematic review of children's psychosocial needs and existing interventions. Eur J Cancer Care (Engl). 2017 Jan;26(1). doi: 10.1111/ecc.12432. Epub 2016 Jan 18. PMID 26776913
- RESULTHuizinga GA, Visser A, Zelders-Steyn YE, Teule JA, Reijneveld SA, Roodbol PF. Psychological impact of having a parent with cancer. Eur J Cancer. 2011 Sep;47 Suppl 3:S239-46. doi: 10.1016/S0959-8049(11)70170-8. No abstract available. PMID 21943981
- RESULTInhestern L, Haller AC, Wlodarczyk O, Bergelt C. Psychosocial Interventions for Families with Parental Cancer and Barriers and Facilitators to Implementation and Use - A Systematic Review. PLoS One. 2016 Jun 8;11(6):e0156967. doi: 10.1371/journal.pone.0156967. eCollection 2016. PMID 27276079
- RESULTKoopman HM, Baars RM, Chaplin J, Zwinderman KH. Illness through the eyes of the child: the development of children's understanding of the causes of illness. Patient Educ Couns. 2004 Dec;55(3):363-70. doi: 10.1016/j.pec.2004.02.020. PMID 15582342
- RESULTKuhl PK. Early language acquisition: cracking the speech code. Nat Rev Neurosci. 2004 Nov;5(11):831-43. doi: 10.1038/nrn1533.