Losing Her: Children's Reported Concerns in the First 6 Months of Their Mother's Breast Cancer Diagnosis

Abstract

Background Maternal breast cancer has a significant impact on the well-being of school-aged children, but we know very little about the concerns these children attribute to their mother's illness. Objective The aim of this study was to describe child-reported illness-related concerns experienced in the initial 6 months of their mother's diagnosis and to identify any differences by age and gender of the child. Methods Data were obtained from 140 school-aged children (7-12 years) within 6 months of their mother diagnosis with stage 0 to III breast cancer. Children's written responses to an open-ended question were analyzed: "Think about a situation that has bothered you during the last month that had to do with your mom's breast cancer."Inductive content analysis was used to analyze the data using methods adapted from grounded theory. Trustworthiness of results was protected by coding to consensus, formal peer debriefing, and maintaining an audit trail. Results "Losing Her", the core construct, was identified and organized the children's concerns in 4 domains: (1) her being away from me, (2) worrying about her, (3) seeing my mother be different, and (4) changing how things work. Conclusion All children reported illness-related concerns about which they were bothered. Even seemingly short-term treatment-related absences from the child were interpreted as difficult. Implication for Practice Findings from the current study add to nurses' awareness and knowledge about the concerns of school-aged children during their mother's initial treatment of breast cancer. Nurses are in a key position to provide services directly to the child or through the mother.