Differences in the child-rearing practices of parents of children with cancer and controls: the perspectives of parents and professionals.

Obtained self-reports of parenting practices from fathers and mothers of 24 children with cancer, and 24 controls using the Child-Rearing Practices Report (CRPR). Cancer patients were primarily in long-term remission and represented a typical pattern of childhood malignancies. Same age/sex controls were recruited from the classrooms of the children with cancer. In addition, CRPR ratings were obtained from experts in pediatric oncology based upon their prediction of how a parent of a child with cancer would respond. The experts predicted differences in the areas of overinvolvement, discipline, worry about the child, nutritional concerns, and use of supernatural explanations. Results from parents showed surprising similarity between the parents of children with cancer and control parents, and disagreement with the experts. Discussion focuses on explanations for this apparent contradiction.