School grades linked to parental cancer

Youngsters whose parents are diagnosed with cancer could benefit from extra school support, it has been suggested after a study linked parental cancer to poorer grades.

Parental cancer was also linked to lower educational attainment and adult earning power.

Researchers from the University of Copenhagen examined data from Danish registries to link data on children born in Denmark between 1978 and 1999 and their parents.

Information was collected on whether a child’s parent was diagnosed with cancer before the ages of 15 and 18.

Of all of the children studied, 4-5% had experienced parental cancer.

“Attainments in early adulthood were affected negatively”

Youngsters whose parents had cancer had a slightly lower-grade average compared with those with cancer-free parents.

By the age of 30, children whose parents had cancer had a higher risk of only attaining the lowest levels of education. They were more likely to be in the lowest income quartile at 30.The findings were pronounced if the parent had a cancer with a poor prognosis or had died of cancer, said the study, in the Journal of Epidemiology and Community Health.

The authors concluded: “Educational and socio-economic attainments in early adulthood were affected negatively in individuals who experienced parental cancer as children or adolescents. The associations appeared stronger the more severe the cancer was. These findings may indicate some children who experience parental cancer would benefit from appropriate support and early educational rehabilitation in teenage years.”