Title : Family resilience and its influencing factors in primary caregivers of children with cancer
Abstract:
Background: Childhood cancer is the second leading cause of death in children. Families of affected children face significant economic burdens from the disease and psychosocial distress. Family resilience can help these families adapt and grow when facing adversity. This study aimed to investigate the current status of family resilience and its influencing factors among primary caregivers of children with cancer within one month of diagnosis.
Methods: From November 2024 to June 2025, children and their primary caregivers who sought treatment at four tertiary first-class hospitals in Henan Province, China, and met the inclusion and exclusion criteria were enrolled. A total of 285 participants were finally included. Family resilience was measured using the Chinese version of the Family Resilience Assessment Scale. Univariate analysis and multiple linear regression were employed to explore the influencing factors of family resilience among primary caregivers, with statistical significance tested at P<0.05. Latent profile analysis (LPA) was further conducted using Mplus 8.3 to classify family resilience types, based on model fit indices (including AIC, BIC, RMSEA, and entropy) to determine the optimal number of subgroups.
Results: The study found that the child's gender, cancer type, medical insurance type, and the caregiver's educational level were influencing factors of family resilience among primary caregivers. LPA identified three subgroups of family resilience: Vulnerable Type (51.58%), Average Development Type (44.21%), and Resilient-Integrated Type (4.21%).
Conclusion: This study highlights that family resilience in primary caregivers within 1 month of childhood cancer diagnosis is shaped by demographic and disease factors, identifying subgroups to inform targeted resilience-building interventions.
