Poster Presentation 2025 Joint Meeting of the COSA ASM and IPOS Congress

Parent, Adolescent and Young Adult Family Resilience in the Face of Parental Cancer: What Makes a Difference? (126315)

Xiomara Skrabal Ross 1 2 , Fiona E J McDonald 1 3 , Robert P Chilton 1 , Stephanie Konings 4
  1. Canteen Australia, Newtown, NSW, Australia
  2. Cancer and Palliative Care Outcomes Centre, Queensland University of Technology, Brisbane, Queensland, Australia
  3. Faculty of Medicine & Health, The University of Sydney , Sydney , New South Wales, Australia
  4. Psycho-Oncology Department, Clinique Saint-Jean, Brussels, Belgium

Objectives/purpose: A cancer diagnosis affects the entire family with its impact evolving over time. Some families adapt well, while others experience long-term disruption. These differences can relate to the individual cancer experience as well as existing family dynamics. This study explored predictors of family functioning following a parent's cancer diagnosis and trajectories of family resilience and functioning over time.

Sample and setting: 74 parents diagnosed within the previous nine months and 54 offspring (12-24 y/o) completed surveys assessing family functioning and resilience at baseline and 6-months (53 parents; 31 offspring).

Procedures: Multiple regression analyses were conducted to identify predictors of family functioning at both time-points and descriptive statistics were used to analyze trajectories of family resilience and family functioning.

Results: For parents, better baseline family functioning was observed in those with better family resilience (β=-.257, 95% CI -.271, -.031, p=.01) and with lower family communication avoidance (β=.463, 95% CI 3.428, 8.824, p=<.01). After controlling for baseline family functioning scores, better baseline family functioning predicted parents’ 6-month family functioning (β=.718, 95% CI .449, .787, p=<.01).

For offspring, better baseline family functioning was observed in those with better family resilience (β=-.584, 95% CI -.404, -.172, p=<.01) and with lower family communication avoidance (β=.254, 95% CI .305, 7.864, p=<.03). After controlling for baseline family functioning scores, offspring’s 6-month family functioning was better for those with better family functioning (β=.626, 95% CI .455, .939, p=<.01) and lower distress (β=.318, 95% CI .221, .923, p=<.003) at baseline.

Trajectories for family resilience and functioning outcomes were assessed and will be presented.

Conclusion and clinical implications: Initial higher levels of communication avoidance, lower family resilience, and functioning, and higher offspring distress may lead to increased vulnerability to family functioning following a parental cancer diagnosis. Providing support to strengthen communication and resilience skills may help mitigate these effects.