Understanding the Psychosocial Needs of Parents Who Have Lost a Child to Cancer

NCT00968500 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 09-107
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 160
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 2

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to understand the experiences and needs of parents who have lost a child to cancer. This will aid us in developing an intervention that may help parents cope with their loss.

Conditions

Parents Who Have Lost a Child to Cancer

Keywords

Grief; bereavement; questionnaires; 09-107

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Identify the unique qualitative themes related to finding meaning among parents who lost a child to cancer to inform development of a conceptually sound meaning-centered grief intervention.

  2 years

Secondary Outcomes (2)

• Determine differences in qualitative themes of meaning in parents in the high and low Prolonged Grief Disorder subgroups to help select a target population for a meaning-centered grief intervention.

  2 years

• Explore and identify factors associated with bereaved parents' psychosocial service underutilization to guide the development of an acceptable and feasible meaning-centered grief intervention format.

  2 years

Study Arms (1)

Parents Who Have Lost a Child to Cancer

The overall goal of the proposed cross-sectional study is to obtain information necessary to the development of an effective Meaning-Centered Grief Intervention for parents who lost a child to cancer. In order to identify a subset of parents with whom we will conduct qualitative interviews with a subset of participants to address Aims 1 and 2, we will first screen participants to determine their levels of Prolonged Grief Disorder symptoms using a quantitative assessment (PG-13). The screening measure (PG-13) and the additional questionnaires included in the quantitative battery of measures will be analyzed to achieve Aim 3.

Behavioral: Questionnaires/Interviews

Interventions

Questionnaires/Interviews BEHAVIORAL

Prior to the interview, the measure of prolonged grief disorder symptoms, the PG-13, will be re-administered to participants as a quality assurance check. We will administer 7 self-report measures, which participants can complete in our office, at home, or via telephone, depending on their preferences. These questionnaires should take approximately 75 to 80 minutes to complete. If you are asked to take part in the in-depth interview and you choose to take part, the interview that will take approximately 60 to 90 minutes to complete, depending on the length of the responses to the questions asked. The participant may also be asked if they would be willing to fill out an additional questionnaire about parents' thoughts on the most appropriate timing for raising the topic of a postmortem examination and factors that are important to include in discussions. Despite its importance, autopsy is often not discussed with parents whose child is dying from cancer.

Parents Who Have Lost a Child to Cancer

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Bereaved parents will be identified through death records kept by the Department of Pediatrics and cross-referenced with the deceased child's MSK medical record.

You may qualify if:

• Loss of a child to cancer between 6 months and 6 years ago
• Loss of a child between the ages of 6 months and 25 years
• Biological or adoptive parent or stepparent
• Parent must be age 18 or over
• In the judgment of investigators/consenting professionals able to comprehend English to complete study assessments
• To be eligible for the qualitative interview, participants more score of 19 or less (\< 19)or 34 or greater (\> 34) on the PG-13 to qualify

You may not qualify if:

• Significant psychiatric disturbance sufficient, in the investigator's judgment, to preclude completion of the assessment measures, interview or informed consent.

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: lead
• National Cancer Institute (NCI): collaborator
• Dana-Farber Cancer Institute: collaborator
• Ohio State University: collaborator
• University of Memphis: collaborator
• University of Southern California: collaborator

Study Sites (2)

NCI Clinical Center

Bethesda, Maryland, United States

Location

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

New York, New York, 10065, United States

Location

Related Links

• Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Surveys and Questionnaires; Interviews as Topic

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Data Collection; Epidemiologic Methods; Investigative Techniques; Health Care Evaluation Mechanisms; Quality of Health Care; Health Care Quality, Access, and Evaluation; Public Health; Environment and Public Health

Study Officials

• Rebecca Saracino, PhD

  Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: August 28, 2009
• First Posted: August 31, 2009
• Study Start: August 1, 2009
• Primary Completion (Estimated): June 2, 2027
• Study Completion (Estimated): June 2, 2027
• Last Updated: April 21, 2026

Record last verified: 2026-04

Locations

US (2)