Family and illness predictors of outcome in pediatric brain tumors

Investigated the prediction of cognitive and behavioral outcomes in 63 children with heterogenous brain tumors. Hierarchical multiple regression analyses were used to determine how family-related variables added to the prediction of children's outcome over and above illness measures. The best predictors of children's behavior problems and adaptive behavior were family and demographic variables, whereas the best predictors of achievement were illness and demographic variables. A combination of family and illness variables, however, was the best predictor of intellectual functioning. In addition to identifying specific predictors of cognitive and behavioral outcome in children with brain tumors, these results lend initial support for the inclusion of contextual factors such as family stress, maternal coping, number of parents in the home, and family SES measures in studies of how disease factors affect outcomes in pediatric brain tumor patients.