evels of psychological stress.
Knowledge is power
“To me the biggest takeaway is that knowledge and information is power,” says Kelsey Largen, a clinical pediatric psychologist whose work focuses on cancer and blood disorders at Hassenfeld Children’s Hospital at NYU Langone in New York City.
“By learning this knowledge about their parents, these children then have the opportunity to make changes to their lifestyle or prepare for a challenge ahead. I think that’s always beneficial,” says Largen.
But the study, published July 21 in Pediatrics, also found that even when kids were presented with this information, it wasn’t likely to change their behavior. Knowledge about the cancer risk didn’t stop them from smoking and didn’t prompt them to drink less or exercise more.
“The takeaway for us was that even though we didn’t see overall changes in what kids were doing when it came to smoking, alcohol use or exercise, there was awareness,” Peshkin shares. “I think that’s key to capitalizing on this. Maybe they weren’t given any tools or any formal way to explore how to resolve this.”
While more research is needed, clear pathways to take action after the news is revealed could be a way to change future behavior.
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How to help your child cope with the news
“If I were talking to a young adult whose parent found they have this mutation, I would look at it in terms of coping. To say, ‘You don’t have this [illness] right now, but if you were to face this, there are resources available to you if this should happen in the future. We can talk about how you can use these coping skills to deal with challenges as they arise,'” Largen adds.
“As a psychologist that’s what I would think about,” she says. “How are they coping with the news? How can we help them prepare emotionally?”
But ultimately, it’s a good sign that kids are resilient and able to handle important information. Parents shouldn’t avoid it or opportunities to talk — kids will be OK.
“We’re often trying to convince parents to share information with their child when it comes to cancer, because we know the more information [the kids] have the better they cope,” Largen concludes.
As you can see sharing this news with your child can be helpful. How and when you decide to do it is up to you, but ultimately, it helps to choose the appropriate language when talking to your child. How old is your child? How much you share should be based on your child’s age. Lastly, make the conversation friendly and inviting. Let your child know that they can engage and ask questions.