Psychological distress in grandparents of grandchildren who survived childhood cancer − Results from the GROkids project

Abstract

Introduction

Having a grandchild who survived childhood cancer might affect grandparents’ mental health. We aimed to A) describe the psychological distress of grandparents of childhood cancer survivors (CCS) and compare their distress to the Swiss general population, and B) explore the associations between the psychological distress of grandparents with person-, child-, and cancer-related characteristics.

Methods

This is a cross-sectional study conducted in Switzerland. Grandparents were identified from families of eligible CCS (cancer diagnosis before 18 years old; 3–10 years after diagnosis). A subsample of a representative sample for the Swiss general population was used for comparison similar in age, gender and language region. The Brief Symptom Inventory-18 (BSI-18) was administered to assess psychological distress on three domains: somatization, depression, anxiety; and a Global Severity Index [GSI]. We ran Chi-squared and t-tests to compare grandparents and comparisons, and univariable, multivariable and multilevel regressions to analyze associations.

Results

In total, 122 grandparents (60.7% female, mean age=72.8; SD=6.8) and 354 comparisons participated (55.4% female; mean age=65.7; SD=5.5). Grandparents reported average distress levels and their scores did not differ significantly from the comparison sample (all p>.05). Grandparents with worse health perception described more psychological distress (somatization: β=6.86, p<.001; depression: β=4.17 p<.001; anxiety: β=5.87, p<.001; GSI: β=6.30, p<.001), while single grandparents experienced more depression than those in a partnership (β=-6.21, p=.013).

Discussion

Our findings are encouraging, showing adequate psychological health among grandparents of CCS. However, grandparents who perceived their health as poorer encounter higher levels of distress and may benefit from access to support groups and tailored informational material.