Mobile devices help build resilience in parents caring for children with cancer

Using mobile devices to deliver resilience training programmes effectively eases depressive symptoms and enhances resilience in parents caring for children with cancer, according to a new study.

 “This study is original and helps to clarify the effectiveness of a mobile device–based resilience training programme in reducing depressive symptoms and enhancing resilience and QoL in Chinese parents of children with cancer,” the researchers said.

The study included 103 parents (mean age 33.6 years, 69.9 percent women) of children with cancer. Participants were randomly allocated to receive either the experimental intervention of an 8-week mobile device-based resilience training programme (n=52) or a placebo control (n=51). Outcomes included depressive symptoms, resilience, and quality of life (QoL).

Two months after trial initiation, mean resilience scores, as measured by the Connor-Davidson Resilience Scale, was significantly higher in parents who were given the mobile device-based intervention (69.35 vs 61.90; p=0.005). Such resilience advantage persisted until the 6-month assessment (67.9 vs 58.26; p<0.001). On the other hand, baseline scores were comparable between treatment arms (p=0.55). [J Med Internet Res 2021;23:e27639]

Aside from improving resilience, the programme likewise led to significantly lower mean depressive symptoms both at the 2-month (40.40 vs 44.66; p=0.009) and 6-month (40.17 vs 46.04; p<0.001) follow-up relative to placebo controls. The Self-Rating Depression Scale was used to assess depressive symptoms and at baseline showed no significant between-group difference (p=0.40).

On the other hand, QoL, as measured by the Short Form of the 6-Dimension Health Survey, was not significantly affected by the resilience programme both at 2 (p=0.11) and 6 months (p=0.07).

Generalized estimating equation models confirmed the device resilience intervention had a strong and significant main effect on improving parent resilience (β, 6.082; p=0.1) and easing depressive symptoms (β, –2.772; p=0.04). In line with the primary findings, the models found no link between the intervention and QoL (β, 0.02; p=0.38).

“Considering the effectiveness and convenience of the mobile device–based resilience training programme, healthcare professionals could use popular social media apps such as WeChat, Facebook, and WhatsApp to implement such programmes to benefit more parents of children with cancer via mHealth care,” the researchers said.

Future studies should consider incorporating objective biometric data to complement the subjective evidence laid out in the present study regarding the effects of a mobile device intervention on parent resilience.

“In addition, given that changes in children’s health conditions might affect the parents’ outcomes, it is recommended that future studies also assess the health condition of children with cancer over time,” they said. “Finally, the parental physical symptoms, such as insomnia, could be good indicators of the effectiveness of resilience training programmes, which should be assessed in future studies.”