Document Type
Article
Publication Date
2-2026
Publisher
Springer
Source Publication
Supportive Care in Cancer
Source ISSN
0941-4355
Abstract
, reflecting directional discrepancies in communication quality.
Methods. Seventy-six caregiver–child dyads (N = 152) were recruited from two Midwestern pediatric hospitals. Children aged 8–17 with cancer and their caregivers independently completed measures of parent–child communication (PCCS) and family relationships (PROMIS). Descriptive statistics, correlations, and paired- and independent-samples t-tests examined differences and associations across dyads. Exploratory Actor–Partner Interdependence Models (APIM) investigated dyadic associations between child and caregiver communication and child family relationships.
Results. Caregivers (10-item: M = 3.90, SD = 0.55; 20-item: M = 3.94, SD = 0.58) and children (M = 4.15, SD = 0.61) reported generally high-quality communication. However, significant differences emerged: children rated caregivers as more attentive listeners (t(74) = 2.53, p = .01, Cohen’s d = 0.29), emotionally open (t(74) = 2.30, p = .02, Cohen’s d = 0.27), and willing to discuss problems (t(74) = 2.86, p = .005, Cohen’s d = 0.33) than caregivers reported children. Across correlation and APIM analyses, child-reported communication was strongly associated with child-reported family relationships and caregiver-reported communication was strongly associated with caregiver-reported child family relationships (actor effects). Older caregiver and child age was linked to lower communication scores.
Conclusions. Interdependent caregiver and child perceptions of communication represent an underrecognized factor influencing family functioning in pediatric cancer. Findings underscore the importance of routine communication assessment and highlight the need for developmentally tailored interventions.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
Recommended Citation
Skeens, Micah A.; Olsavsky, Anna; Kochashvili, Mariam; Alshakhshir, Nadeen; Basha, Mays; Newman, Amy R.; and Montgomery, Kathleen, "Toward Better Conversations: Assessing Caregiver–Child Communication in Pediatric Oncology" (2026). College of Nursing Faculty Research and Publications. 1093.
https://epublications.marquette.edu/nursing_fac/1093
Comments
Published version.
Supportive Care in Cancer, Vol. 34, No. 210 (2026): 1-19. DOI. This article is © Springer. This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License, which permits use, sharing, adaptation, distribution and reproduction in any medium or format, as long as you give appropriate credit to the original author(s) and the source, provide a link to the Creative Commons licence, and indicate if changes were made. The images or other third party material in this article are included in the article's Creative Commons licence, unless indicated otherwise in a credit line to the material. If material is not included in the article's Creative Commons licence and your intended use is not permitted by statutory regulation or exceeds the permitted use, you will need to obtain permission directly from the copyright holder. To view a copy of this licence, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/.