Hispanic adolescents coping with parental cancer.

AIM: The aim of this study was to identify the coping strategies Hispanic adolescents employed to deal with parental cancer, looking specifically at how gender and psychological symptoms such as depression and anxiety relate to such strategies.

METHODS: Participants were 51 Puerto Rican adolescents who have a parent living with cancer. Adolescents completed a structured questionnaire with scales measuring depression (CES-D), anxiety (STAI), and coping strategies (COPE).

RESULTS: The strategies used with the highest frequency were those generally viewed as positive and emotion-focused: emotional support, acceptance, and religion. The means for these coping strategies indicated that they occurred with high frequency. The findings revealed no differences in coping strategies between girls and boys. Depression was related to two maladaptive coping strategies: denial and behavioral disengagement; and one emotion-focused strategy: acceptance. Anxiety had significant correlations with one emotion-focused strategy: acceptance; and two dysfunctional strategies: substance use and behavioral disengagement. The best predictors of adolescents' depression and anxiety were dysfunctional coping and problem-focused strategies.

CONCLUSIONS: The study contributes to the knowledge about the coping strategies of Hispanic adolescents experiencing parental cancer and the importance of taking individual coping strategies into account when evaluating the impact of parental cancer on psychological well-being. This is especially true for adolescents who are likely to use dysfunctional strategies such as denial, substance use, and behavioral disengagement. Through psychosocial interventions, professionals need to assist these adolescents to improve and learn better coping strategies.