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New Intervention Helps Mothers Cope with Child’s Cancer

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A new intervention designed to help mothers cope with the stresses associated with their child’s cancer appears to be more effective long term compared with other psychological approaches, according to a study reported at the 42nd Congress of the International Society of Pediatric Oncology.
 
Researchers from The University of Texas MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital,Houston, Texas, and Jonathan Jaques Children’s Cancer Center of Miller Children’s Hospital, Long Beach, California, reported that mothers of newly diagnosed patients were able to decrease their stress level sooner and sustain that level longer with an intervention known as Problem-Solving Skills Training (PSST).
 
The training developed by the Psychosocial Adaptation to Childhood Cancer Research Consortium consists of eight 1-hour individual sessions between mother and therapist, in which they identify the mother’s primary stressors, brainstorm solutions, weigh the benefits and costs associated with each solution, implement one of the solutions, and evaluate its effectiveness.
 
The researchers found that 3 months after their child’s initial diagnosis, the stress levels of mothers receiving PSST had fallen twice as much as those of mothers who received no intervention. Spanish-speaking mothers had greatest response to the training compared with English-speaking and Arabic-speaking mothers.
 
In a 2009 study by the consortium, researchers compared PSST with reflective listening, a form of one-on-one counseling. Although both therapies decreased the stress level significantly, mothers counseled only with reflective listening returned to higher stress levels after 3 months, unlike those who received the PSST intervention.
 
In the current study, the researchers also evaluated the efficacy and feasibility of using a personal digital assistant (PDA) to supplement the training. Although no significant benefit was found from using an electronic device in coordination with PSST, participants rated the PDA-based program favorably, which could lead to more technology-based interventions in the future, the presenters said.
 
“Now that we have developed a solid intervention that we know helps mothers cope with stress, we want to create computer-based programs that will provide problem-solving training to parents who may not have access to psychologists or other support systems,” said Martha Askins, PhD, assistant professor at MD Anderson Children’s Cancer Hospital.
 
The PSST method, also known as the Bright Ideas program, was designated recently by the US Department of Health and Human Services as a research-tested intervention that will be included in their National Registry of Evidence-based Programs and Practices.

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