[Psychometric Properties of the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire in the German Version (SRQ-deu)]. / Psychometrische Gütekriterien der deutschen Version des Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (SRQ-deu).

The present study examines the psychometric properties of the German version of the Sibling Relationship Questionnaire (SRQ-deu, self-rating) in 961 children and adolescents aged 8-18 years. Internal consistency was satisfactory to high. Associations with other clinical instruments point in the expected direction and support the external validity of the SRQ-deu. A confirmatory factor analysis largely supported the 4-factor structure generated by the German version of the SRQ (SRQ-deu).

[The mental health of only children and of siblings with cancer - first results of a multicenter study in Germany]. / Psychische Gesundheit von Einzelkindern und Kindern mit Geschwistern, deren Eltern an Krebs erkrankt sind. Ergebnisse einer multizentrischen Studie in Deutschland.

BACKGROUND: Children of parents with cancer are at risk of developing mental disorders. RESULTS from divorce research also reveal that sibling relationships can protect the mental health of children in difficult times. OBJECTIVE: Does having a sibling help to cope with an oncological disease of a parent and thus act as a protective factor? METHODS: A group of 271 children were examined in a multicenter study. 54 % made use of the offered psychosocial support. Only children (N = 89) and children with siblings (N = 182) were compared with respect to their mental health (Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire, SDQ, parental and self-assessment). RESULTS: The group comparison between only children and siblings showed no significant differences in the SDQ (assessed by healthy/ill parent). In the self-assessment 2 % of the only children and 9 % of the siblings showed significant results on the SDQ. The group comparison between only children and children with siblings failed to reveal any important differences in mental health. The study indicates that a negative relationship quality (Sibling Relationship Questionnaire, SRQ) is associated with increased problems in the peer group. CONCLUSIONS: The existence of a sibling is not per se a protective factor. Only children do not show more signs of emotional stress than children with siblings.

"There is still so much ahead of us"-family functioning in families of palliative cancer patients.

Adopting a systems approach, parental cancer has its impact on patients, spouses, and dependent children. The purpose of the current study was to examine family functioning dependent on parental disease stage and on family member perspective in families of cancer patients with adolescent children. The cross-sectional study was conducted within a German multisite research project of families before their first child-centered counseling encounter. The sample comprised individuals nested within N = 169 families. Analyses performed included analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) and intraclass correlation. Open answers were analyzed following quantitative content analysis procedures. Between 15% and 36% of family members reported dysfunctional general functioning scores. Parents indicated more dysfunctional scores on the Family Assessment Device scale Roles, and adolescents more dysfunctional Communication scores. Regarding assessment of family functioning, there was higher agreement in families with parents in a palliative situation. For adolescents with parents in palliation, incidents because of the disease tend to become more dominant, and spending time with the family tends to become even more important. As our study pointed out, parental cancer, and especially parental palliative disease, is associated with both perceived critical and positive aspects in family functioning. Supporting families in these concerns as well as encouraging perceptions of positive aspects are important components of psycho-oncological interventions for families with dependent children.

["I do not worry about ...!" How the Berkeley Puppet Interview may reveal self-report of psychological symptoms of 4 to 8 years old children exposed to parental cancer]. / "Ich mach mir keine Sorgen ...!" Wie 4- bis 8-jährige Kinder krebskranker Eltern im Berkeley Puppet Interview psychische Symptome selbst einschätzen.

The Berkeley Puppet Interview (BPI) enables us to investigate psychological symptoms of children aged four to eight years under a multi-informant perspective by the means of self and parent report measures. 45 families with one parent suffering from cancer have been examined with regard to internalizing and externalizing symptoms of the children. Results have been compared to two different age-appropriate samples (Swiss preschool study of Basel and German KiGGS study). A small, highly selective sample of twelve children aged four to eight years could have been examined both from the self and parent perspective. Our results show, that four to eight year old children of cancer patients do not differ from other children of the same age in the way they express emotional symptoms in the BPI, but they are judged more emotionally burdened than other children by their parents (SDQ). Self and parent report do not significantly correlate. It seems as if parents in families struck by a cancer disease see their children's emotional symptoms more pronounced than the children themselves do express in the puppet interview. Implications for clinical and research practice will be discussed.

[Support for families with a parent diagnosed with cancer and children under the age of five--delineation of a counselling concept]. / Unterstützung von Familien mit einem an Krebs erkrankten Elternteil und Kindern unter fünf Jahren--Darstellung eines Beratungskonzeptes.

Parents of infants and young children, who have been diagnosed with cancer wish to protect their child from the emotional strains of their illness. They wonder, what the child can understand about the illness and how it is able to process or assimilate the experience of the illness. In fact, infants and young children are particularly sensitive to the degree of emotional burden and the mental state of their parents and will experience varying degrees of insecurity due to even small changes in their relationship with their parents. On the basis of psychological development parameters specific to this age group as well as scientific findings on risk and protection factors an integrated interaction based counseling approach was developed. Within this approach, support for the communication between parent and child in view of the specific strains of their illness, both non-verbal and in the child's early stages of verbal communication, is central. In the present article the counselling concept is described and illustrated by case studies. Application and limits are discussed.