The mediating role of caregiver hope in relations among caregivers' coping and emotional socialization beliefs in pediatric oncology

Purpose: The purpose of this study is to identify links between caregiver hope, caregiver coping behaviors, and caregivers' coaching versus dismissing emotion socialization (ES) beliefs in a pediatric cancer sample.Design: Self-report measures.Sample: Caregivers (N = 183, 80.20% mothers; 58.5% white; 32.2% Hispanic) of youth undergoing cancer treatment (51.10% hematological malignancy, 15.30% brain or spinal [CNS] tumor, and 25.14% non-CNS solid tumor) for at least six weeks.Method: We used a series of mediation models to examine links between caregivers' coping behaviors, hope, and ES beliefs.Findings: Caregivers' hope significantly mediated a positive relation between caregivers' coping and their emotion coaching beliefs, as well as an inverse relation between caregivers' maladaptive coping and their emotion dismissing beliefs.Conclusion: Enhancing caregivers' hope or adaptive coping may support caregivers' beliefs during the pediatric cancer experience.Implications for Psychosocial Providers: Our findings support future research to evaluate whether enhancing caregivers' hope or adaptive coping may help support evidence-based interventions that target ES beliefs and behaviors.