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Family adjustment and academic achievement of pediatric oncology patients
Abstract
The 5-year survival rate for childhood cancer has improved dramatically in recent years, shifting the attention of health care providers to the stressors associated with survival. A great deal of research has been conducted regarding the psychosocial difficulties experienced by the patient, family difficulties, and academic achievement of the child with cancer. However, little has been done from the perspective of systems theory. This research examined the change in patients' academic achievement across a 3-year period of time and sought to identify a model describing the influence of family functioning and patient personality on academic achievement. Because patients are not always available for each annual follow-up, and the time of follow-up varies greatly from patient to patient, traditional statistical techniques were inappropriate for data analysis. Therefore, hierarchical linear modeling was used to analyze the longitudinal data in this study. Results did not support the hypothesis that family functioning has an influence on the academic achievement of children with cancer. However, characteristics of child personality as measured by the Personality Inventory for Children did contribute to the model of change in academic achievement. Depressive symptomatology was positively related to Spelling achievement (p $<$.01) and demonstrated a tendency toward a negative relationship with Arithmetic achievement on the Wide Range Achievement Test (p $<$.05). On both measures of reading achievement on the Peabody Individual Achievement Test, age at diagnosis was positively related to achievement (p $<$.001) and somatic concerns were negatively related (p $<$.001). Limitations of this study and suggestions for future research are explored.
Subject Area
Psychotherapy
Recommended Citation
Stahl, Kandy Jean, "Family adjustment and academic achievement of pediatric oncology patients" (1991). ETD collection for University of Nebraska-Lincoln. AAI9219390.
https://digitalcommons.unl.edu/dissertations/AAI9219390