Association between coping of the primary caregiver and the adolescent patient with cancer

Coping mechanisms help individuals face adversity, remain stable over time, and can be generalized to various circumstances. Two types are typically distinguished: the active style, aimed at resolving problems, and the passive style, focused on emotional regulation. We hypothesized that passive coping of the primary caregiver (hereafter, primary caregiver [PC]) would affect the adaptive coping of his or her adolescent child with cancer (hereafter, adolescent with cancer [AC]).

To analyze coping styles in adolescents with cancer (ACs) and their primary caregivers (PCs).

This was an analytical cross-sectional study including 116 pairs of an adolescent with cancer (AC) and a primary caregiver (PC). The adolescents completed the Adolescent Coping Scale (ACS), applicable to those aged 9-17 years, while the caregivers completed the Coping Strategies Inventory (CSI).

49% (57/116) of the pairs both used the active coping style, and 14% showed the passive style in both members. No agreement was found between the coping styles of the AC and PC (Kappa = 0.15, 95% confidence interval [CI]: 0.13-0.14, p = 0.13). The multivariate analysis explained 61% of the variance (Nagelkerke pseudo R2 = 0.61; likelihood ratio = 191.4; p = 0.003).

Passive coping by the primary caregiver occurred with low frequency, and active coping was favored, similar to that of the adolescent with cancer.