Adjustment of children with newly diagnosed cancer: Cross-informant variance

In recent years, more and more intensive treatment protocols have been initiated with the goal of improving long-term survival of pediatric cancer patients. Empirical evaluation of the psychological and social adjustment of the cohort of children with newly diagnosed cancer being treated with these modern regimens is essential to enhance quality of life. Inconsistencies in the literature on the “average” adjustment of children with cancer can be attributed to a number of methodological differences across studies. Assessment of physically healthy children’s adjustment based on independently derived information from the children, parents, and teachers has consistently shown a lack of congruence among these three sources. This discordance or lack of agreement among reports of child adjustment was termed “cross-informant variance” for the purposes of the present investigation. Cross-informant variance among child, parent, and teacher report measures has not been systematically investigated for pediatric cancer patients. Consistent with the general empirical literature on children, the results of the study generally demonstrated small to medium effect sizes (rs ranged from.10 to.50) across the three measures, indicating the need for cross-informant assessment to determine the quality of life of pediatric cancer patients more adequately.