Objective: To develop a measure of parenting stress related to caring for a child with an illness and to evaluate its psychometric properties with a group of parents of children with cancer. Methods: One hundred twenty-six parents (105 mothers, 21 fathers) of children (65 boys and 61 girls, M age: 12.75 years) being followed by an oncology service were assessed using the 42-item self-report Pediatric Inventory for Parents (PIP). Internal consistency was assessed and construct validity was investigated with standardized, general self-report measures of anxiety and parenting stress. Results: Internal consistency reliability for the PIP was high (Cronbach α range:.80-.96). PIP scores were significantly correlated with a measure of state anxiety and also with parenting stress, demonstrating construct validity. After we controlled for demographic variables and general parenting stress, PIP scores showed strong independent associations with state anxiety. Conclusions: Preliminary data indicate that the PIP is a reliable and valid tool to assess parenting stress in pediatric oncology populations. As a measure of illness-related parenting stress, the PIP may be used to provide information about parent well-being that extends beyond that obtained from general measures.

Objective Parents of children with type 1 diabetes are crucial to promoting positive disease adaptation and health outcomes among these youngsters, yet this success may come at some consequence to parents’ own well-being. Little research has examined the stress faced by parents, or explored the psychological and behavioral correlates of their stress. Methods One hundred and thirty-four parents of children with type 1 diabetes completed measures of diabetes self-efficacy, responsibility for diabetes management, fear of hypoglycemia, and a recently developed measure of pediatric parenting stress (the Pediatric Inventory for Parents [PIP]; R. Streisand, S. Braniecki, K. P. Tercyak, & A. E. Kazak, 2001). Results Bivariate analyses suggest that pediatric parenting stress is multifaceted; the frequency of parenting stress is negatively related to child age and family socioeconomic status and positively related to single parent status and regimen status (injections vs. insulin pump). Difficulty of parenting stress is negatively related to child age and positively related to regimen status. In multivariate analyses, a significant portion of the variance in stress frequency (32%) and difficulty (19%) are associated with parent psychological and behavioral functioning, including lower self-efficacy, greater responsibility for diabetes management, and greater fear of hypoglycemia. Conclusions Each area of parent functioning associated with pediatric parenting stress is amenable to behavioral intervention aimed at stress reduction or control and improvement of parent psychological and child-health outcomes.

Objective : To document levels of stress in parents of children undergoing bone marrow transplantation (BMT) over the course of hospitalization and to pilot a psychological intervention program designed to teach parents techniques for managing stress associated with their child's illness and hospitalization. Methods : Twenty-two mothers of children (ages 2-16) undergoing BMT were followed prospectively from preadmission to three weeks posttransplant. Eleven mothers, randomly assigned to participate in a pilot intervention program, were compared with 11 control mothers receiving standard care preparation of their child's BMT. Results : Repeated measures ANOVAs detected significant changes in stress over time, with most stress reported preadmission. Mothers in the intervention condition reported using more stress management techniques than mothers in the standard care condition, though the majority of analyses revealed no significant differences in stress between groups. Conclusions : Increased levels of parenting distress may occur pretransplant, suggesting the need for additional psychological intervention at that time.