The coping experience of parents of a child with retinoblastoma-malignant eye cancer

Yaira Hamama-Raz, Ido Rot, Eli Buchbinder

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

31 Scopus citations

Abstract

The authors explored 12 couples' coping with their children's diagnosis and treatment of retinoblastoma using a semistructured interview, with qualitative, descriptive, narrative-interpretative analysis. Findings showed that the parents' experienced increased distress with the physician's first suspicion that something was seriously wrong. Distress was ameliorated when they arrived at a specialty treatment center but increased as they tackled treatment decisions. Distress decreased again after they consented to enucleation but increased after hospital discharge. The parents strength, their ability together and individually, to separate and split between cognition and emotion contributed to coping. Parents need support from a multidisciplinary staff and parents who coped with retinoblastoma.

Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)21-40
Number of pages20
JournalJournal of Psychosocial Oncology
Volume30
Issue number1
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2012

Keywords

  • cancer
  • distress
  • oncology
  • parental coping
  • retinoblastoma

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