Luto prolongado e depressão parental no contexto da oncologia pediátrica

Abstract

The current thesis assesses the occurrence of Prolonged Grief Disorder (PGD) and depression in individuals whose children have died of childhood cancer, as well as the factors associated with these outcomes. This cross-sectional study included fathers and mothers of children who received treatment at the Cancer Hospital I / INCA, aged less than 19 years old at diagnosis, and who died at least six months before evaluation of the present study. For the present thesis, 93 people (66 women and 27 men) were evaluated, and the research data originated two manuscripts. In manuscript I, the occurrence of PGD and depression was presented according to sociodemographic characteristics, family structure and variables related to the child's illness and death. PGD occurred in 17.2% of respondents, being more frequent in individuals who do not work (34.5%) and in those who had a spouse or partner (23.9%). Depressive symptoms occurred in 32.3% of the participants and were more frequent in people who lost another close relative after the child's death (56.3%). In both outcomes, there was no significant difference between men and women. In manuscript II, the role of social support, religiosity and time in palliative care was investigated in the chance of occurrence of depression and PGD. Worse indices on the Intrinsic Religiosity scale were positively associated with the occurrence of PGD (OR 1.23; 1.02 - 1.49). The greater perception of Social Support, in all dimensions of the scale, was negatively associated with the occurrence of depressive symptoms (OR 0.97; 0.95 - 0.99). Time in palliative care was not associated with the outcomes. This thesis is the first quantitative study on this topic in Brazil and contributes to the advancement of knowledge about parental bereavement and depression in the Brazilian population. Since mourning carries cultural characteristics, it is important to have greater knowledge about factors associated with the occurrence of PGD and depression in different contexts. The results of this study may serve as a basis for the implementation of monitoring and screening procedures for the population of bereaved parents, enabling interventions aimed at these possible modifiable factors.