Resilience in Parents of Childhood Cancer Survivors: Results From the Swiss Childhood Cancer Survivors Study—Parents

Background: Resilience, or the ability to adapt, recover, and thrive under stress, is crucial for mental health, but remains understudied in parents of childhood cancer survivors (CCS-parents). We aimed to: (a) describe the resilience of CCS-parents, comparison parents (parents from general population), and the Swiss general population (SGP), (b) compare resilience of CCS-parents and comparison-parents, and (c) identify characteristics associated with resilience in CCS-parents. Methods: This is a cross-sectional population-based study including CCS-parents who were identified through the Swiss Childhood Cancer Registry, and comparison-parents from a representative sample of the general population. Resilience was measured using the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale (CD-RISC). Linear regression was used to estimate differences between CCS-parents and comparison parents, adjusting for confounders. Characteristics associated with resilience in CCS-parents were identified through multilevel linear regression with parent couples clustered at the family level. Results: Data from 468 CCS-parents (mean age = 62.2 years; 58.5% female), 473 comparison parents (mean age = 62.1 years; 57.5% female) and 1246 individuals from the SGP (mean age = 48.9 years; 58.2% female) were analyzed. Mean resilience in the SGP was 72.2 (SD = 13.3). CCS-parents had lower resilience (mean = 69.5; SD = 12.4) than in comparison parents (mean = 73.9; SD = 13.6; p < 0.001). Among CCS-parents, better general health was associated with higher resilience (p < 0.001), while living in French- or Italian-speaking regions (vs. German-speaking; p = 0.044) and higher levels of depression (p = 0.001) were associated with lower resilience. Conclusion: Our study supports the need to enhance resilience in parents of survivors, which may help to improve overall mental health and wellbeing of this population.