Gender differences in parenting a child with cancer.

This study of 124 parents of children diagnosed with cancer investigates parents' perceptions of their role in the illness situation. The study found that mothers and fathers differ in their experience of and response to parenting a child with cancer. These differences appear to reflect traditional parenting roles characterized by a gender-based division of labor. Sex-role socialization theory is discussed as an explanatory model of the parenting experience. Practice recommendations are offered to medical social workers and other health care professionals concerned about the long term psychosocial adjustment of parents with chronically ill children.