Patterns of spillover between marital adjustment and parent-child conflict during pediatric cancer treatment

Abstract

Objective When a child is diagnosed with cancer, problems may arise in family relationships and negatively affect child adjustment. The current study examined patterns of spillover between marital and parent-child relationships to identify targets for intervention aimed at ameliorating family conflict. Method Families (N ¼ 117) were recruited from two US children's hospitals within 2-week postdiagnosis to participate in a short-term prospective longitudinal study. Children with cancer were 2-10 years old (M ¼ 5.42 years, SD ¼ 2.59). Primary caregivers provided reports of marital and parent-child conflict at 1-, 6-, and 12-month postdiagnosis. Results Results indicated that a unidirectional model of spillover from the marital to the parent-child relationship best explained the data. In terms of specific temporal patterns, lower marital adjustment soon after diagnosis was associated with an increase in parent-child conflict 6 months later, though this pattern was not repeated in the latter 6 months of treatment. Conclusion Targeting problems in marital relationships soon after diagnosis may prevent conflict from developing in the parent-child relationship.