Abstract

A diagnosis of breast cancer implies an emotional burden on the patient’s personal and family functioning, especially in traditional societies. Along with the physical and emotional difficulties that are inherent to cancer, there is also a tendency in Arab society to keep the disease a secret. The present study examined the impact of sharing information about the mother’s illness on the emotional and educational scholastic functioning of children of Arab Israeli women with breast cancer. The sample included 39 Arab women with breast cancer, their school aged children and their children’s teachers, who answered self-report questionnaires. Findings indicated that mothers and children who shared information related to the illness reported more perceived social support, children’s higher academic achievements, fewer emotional and behavioral problems, and higher pro-social behaviors than children and mothers who did not share information regarding the illness. This study underscores the role of sharing information about breast-cancer illness among Arab mothers, on the emotional and scholastic functioning of their children. Further research is needed to provide a way to facilitate the information-sharing process in the community, and to prevent the negative ‘ripple effect’ of concealing the mother’s illness in Arab society.

中文翻译：

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分享秘密：分享母亲的乳腺癌对阿拉伯儿童情绪和行为状态的影响

摘要

乳腺癌的诊断意味着患者个人和家庭功能的情感负担，尤其是在传统社会中。除了癌症固有的身体和情感困难外，阿拉伯社会还存在对这种疾病保密的倾向。本研究探讨了分享母亲患病信息对患有乳腺癌的阿拉伯以色列妇女的孩子的情感和教育学业功能的影响。样本包括 39 名患有乳腺癌的阿拉伯妇女、她们的学龄儿童以及孩子的老师，他们回答了自我报告问卷。研究结果表明，与不分享疾病相关信息的儿童和母亲相比，分享疾病相关信息的母亲和儿童感受到更多的社会支持，孩子的学业成绩更高，情绪和行为问题更少，亲社会行为更高。这项研究强调了阿拉伯母亲中分享有关乳腺癌疾病的信息对其孩子的情感和学业功能的作用。需要进一步的研究来提供一种方法来促进社区的信息共享过程，并防止阿拉伯社会因隐瞒母亲的病情而产生的负面“连锁反应”。