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Maternal Preoccupation and Parenting as Predictors of Emotional and Behavioral Problems in Children of Women With Breast Cancer

John J. Sigal, J. Christopher Perry, James M. Robbins, Marie-Anik Gagné, Edgard Nassif

From the Department of Psychiatry, Institute of Community and Family Psychiatry, Sir Mortimer B. Davis-Jewish General Hospital, Montreal, Quebec, Canada; and the Department of Pediatrics, University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AK.

Address reprint requests to John Sigal, PhD, Department of Psychiatry (ICFP), 4333 Cote St Catherine Rd, Montreal, Quebec, H3T 1E4, Canada; email: cdovick{at}icfp.jgh.mcgill.ca.

Purpose: To test the hypothesis that differences between sicker and not-so-sick women in their preoccupation with their illness and parenting behavior can explain why some investigators find that children of breast cancer patients fare better than controls and other investigators find the reverse.

Patients and Methods: Forty-two women with metastasized breast cancer (sicker mothers) and 45 women with a first occurrence of nonmetastasized breast cancer (not-so-sick mothers) rated the degree of their preoccupation with the disease, their parenting behavior, mood, and social supports and the emotional and behavioral symptoms in one of their children. Their 12- to 18-year-old children rated their mothers’ parenting behavior, their own emotional and behavioral symptoms, and their self-esteem.

Results: Sicker mothers reported relatively less preoccupation. They, and their children, reported less poor parenting and fewer externalizing symptoms in the children. Regression analyses revealed further differences between the groups.

Conclusion: Less preoccupation with their illness and less poor parenting behavior by sicker mothers may explain why their children seem to fare better then those of not-so-sick mothers. Formulations concerning families of breast cancer patients should include consideration of the effect of the mothers’ perception of the severity of their illness.

Supported by grant no. RS-2286-093 from the Conseil Québécois de la Recherche Sociale (Quebec Social Science Research Council), Quebec, Canada.

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