Gritting through it: caregiver grit as a source of resilience in families affected by pediatric cancer.

Objective: Children treated for cancer and their caregivers exhibit considerable resilience, yet a subset are at risk for adjustment difficulties. Limited research has utilized a resilience-based theoretical framework, conceptualized as the process of harnessing resources. Grit, defined as perseverance and passion toward long-term goals, is one internal resource to consider. The present study investigates the role of caregiver grit in caregiver and child psychological adjustment following a pediatric cancer diagnosis.

Methods: Participants were caregivers of children within 1 year of a cancer diagnosis (meandays = 105.9, SD = 75.04). Parents provided self-reports of grit and posttraumatic stress symptoms and proxy-reports of their child's behavioral and emotional symptoms.

Results: On average, caregivers (N = 107, 89.6% female, 73.4% White, 42.6% college or higher degree) reported a grit score of 3.40 (SD = 0.67), comparable to the general population. A subset of participants (46.7% of caregivers and 21.5% of children) had psychosocial symptoms above clinical cut-offs. Higher caregiver grit was associated with lower caregiver posttraumatic stress symptoms (F(1,79) = 13.77, p < .001, R2 = 14.8%) and lower child psychological difficulties, F(1,70) = 18.78, p < .001, R2 = 21.2%. Caregiver posttraumatic stress symptoms mediated the relationship between caregiver grit and child psychological difficulties (β = -0.23, 95%BC [-0.47, -0.04]).

Conclusion: Among families affected by pediatric cancer, higher levels of caregiver grit were associated with lower caregiver posttraumatic stress symptoms, and in turn, lower child psychological difficulties. Results suggest that grit is a potential target for promoting both caregiver and child resilience in pediatric cancer services. Longitudinal research should examine how caregivers harness grit, as a possible component of resilience, throughout the cancer treatment and survivorship trajectory.