Early trajectory of psychosocial risk in families of children and adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer.

We explored early trajectories of psychosocial risk levels (i.e., Universal, Targeted, or Clinical) in families of children and adolescents newly diagnosed with cancer using the Psychosocial Assessment Tool (PAT) in secondary analysis of data from a randomized trial assessing the effects of psychosocial screening. Families were allocated to an intervention group (IG, PAT summary provided to patient treating team) or a control group (CG, no PAT summary provided to treating team) in two pediatric cancer centers. Primary caregivers (N = 122) of newly diagnosed children and adolescents completed the PAT along with outcome measures for the trial at 2-4 weeks post-diagnosis (T1) and 6 months post-diagnosis (T2). The CG and IG were not significantly different, in terms of PAT risk levels at T1 and T2, but at T1, the PAT total and parent stress scores were higher in the CG (p's < .05). The distribution of families across PAT risk levels did not differ significantly between T1 and T2 (p > .05) with 63% of families remaining within the same PAT risk level at T2. A subgroup of families in the Targeted risk level at T1 moved to the Universal (34%) or Clinical (13%) levels of risk at T2 (p's < .01). Another subgroup with Universal risk at T1 trended to Targeted (28%) or Clinical (2%) at T2. While psychosocial risk remained relatively consistent for the majority of families, a smaller number of families experienced changes in risk level over time. Further investigation of these exploratory trends in psychosocial trajectories is needed to guide psychosocial support during child's cancer treatment.Clinical Trial Registration Number: NCT02788604 (registered with ClinicalTrials.gov).