The Relationship Between Social Support, Coping Strategy and Post-Traumatic Growth in Parents of Children with Cancer

Yıl 2025, Sayı: 9, 1 - 8, 24.11.2025

Sevcan Atay Turan , Figen Işık Esenay

https://doi.org/10.26650/CURARE.2025.1638401

Öz

Objective: This study aim to investigate the relationships among social support, coping strategies, and post-traumatic growth in parents of children diagnosed with cancer.

Method: A cross-sectional study was carried out with 99 mothers and 51 fathers. Data were collected through a written questionnaire at a single point in time. In this study, the data were analyzed using the Multidimensional Perceived Social Support Scale, the Ways of Coping with Stress Inventory, and the Posttraumatic Growth Inventory. The study included parents whose children had been diagnosed with cancer between one and five years prior. The study compared the mean scores of post-traumatic growth, coping strategies, and perceived social support according to the gender of the parent. Pearson correlation analysis was used to explore the relationship between posttraumatic growth, social support, and coping strategies.

Results: The participants demonstrated moderate to high levels of post-traumatic growth, as indicated by a total mean score of 76.31 ± 22.6 and a mean item score of 3.56. The mean social support score of the parents was 65.94 ± 18.71 and the mean ways of coping with stress score was 55.80 ± 13.56 Correlation analyses showed low level of correlation (r=0.255, p=0.013) between social support and post-traumatic growth. A moderate relationship (r = 0.395, p = 0.012) was found between ways of coping with stress and post-traumatic growth. Independent samples t-tests revealed no statistically significant differences between mothers and fathers in the total or subscale scores of the post-traumatic growth, coping strategies or social support scales.

Conclusion: Social support, coping strategies and post-traumatic growth are interconnected among parents of children diagnosed with cancer. This relationship can be further explored across different demographic variables.

Anahtar Kelimeler

Childhood Cancer , Coping With Stress , Parents , Posttraumatic Growth , Social Support

Etik Beyan

This study was approved by the Ankara University Ethics Committee (reference number is 175/1287/2014).

Kaynakça

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