Anna Olsavsky

Anna Olsavsky
Nationwide Children's Hospital · Center for Biobehavioral Health

Doctor of Philosophy

About

35
Publications
3,269
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228
Citations

Publications

Publications (35)
Article
Full-text available
Objective: Pediatric cancer can impact the emotional health of both children and their caregivers. Although previous research has established that social support and spiritual involvement may be protective for parents of children with cancer, less is known about parents of children with an advanced cancer diagnosis. In this study of mothers and fat...
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Objectives Although pediatric cancer often causes significant stress for families, most childhood cancer survivors are resilient and do not exhibit severe or lasting psychopathology. Research demonstrates some survivors may report benefit-finding or positive outcomes following this stressful life event. However, considerably less research has inclu...
Article
Full-text available
Objectives To characterize caregiver experiences in the context of advanced pediatric cancer by identifying individual (i.e., demographic factors, stress) and family context factors (i.e., family roles, social support) associated with caregiver strain. Methods Families of children (ages 5–25) with advanced cancer (i.e., physician-estimated prognos...
Article
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Transgender/non-binary (TNB) adolescents are at increased risk for mental health concerns, and caregiver awareness is important to facilitate access to care. Yet, limited research has examined caregiver awareness of TNB mental health. Thus, we examined (1) the prevalence of internalizing symptoms (depression, generalized anxiety, separation anxiety...
Article
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Social contexts (e.g., family, friends) are important in predicting and preventing loneliness in middle childhood (MC) and adolescence; however, these social contexts were disrupted during the COVID-19 pandemic. Comparison of social context factors that may differentially contribute to loneliness at each developmental stage (MC vs. adolescence) dur...
Article
Background While most research has largely focused on medical risks associated with reduced health‐related quality of life (HRQOL) in survivors, sociodemographic and family factors may also play a role. Thus, we longitudinally examined sociodemographic factors and family factors associated with survivor HRQOL, including adolescent's cancer‐specific...
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COVID-19 public health measures caused significant disruptions to child and caregivers’ mental and physical well-being, including quality of life (QoL). However, in samples outside the United States (U.S.), greater resilience has been linked to lower COVID-19 impact on child QoL. Thus, understanding individual and dyadic factors contributing to res...
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Objectives Adolescents with cancer often experience significant symptom burden and aggressive treatment near end-of-life. Increased adolescent involvement in care and decision-making may benefit health outcomes. Limited research has examined factors associated with adolescents’ involvement in care in the context of advanced disease. Thus, we examin...
Article
Background/objectives: Little is known about the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the quality of life (QoL) of children with cancer who may be more vulnerable to the pandemic's effects. We examined associations between COVID-19 exposure and impact on parent-proxy reported QoL in children with cancer, and potential moderation based on the child's...
Article
Objective Limited research has characterized cancer‐related stress (CRS) among families of childhood cancer survivors. We examined the prevalence of CRS among survivors and caregivers, as well as its association with health risk perceptions (i.e., prognosis, risk for diminished quality of life) and views of survivor quality of life (QoL). Methods...
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A child’s death from cancer may increase the risk for poor self-worth in bereaved siblings. Furthermore, bereaved parents may experience depressive symptoms and communicate differently with their surviving children. However, limited research has examined family factors associated with self-worth in bereaved siblings. Thus, we examined: (a) differen...
Preprint
Background: While most research has largely focused on medical risks associated with reduced quality of life (QOL) in survivors, sociodemographic and family factors may also play a role. Thus, we examined sociodemographic factors and family factors associated with survivor QOL, including adolescent’s cancer-specific stress, mother’s general stress,...
Article
Purpose: We aimed to examine the concurrent associations of gender-affirming hormonal interventions (i.e., puberty blockers, testosterone, estrogen), as well as family and friend social support, on transgender and nonbinary (TNB) adolescents' reports of anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, nonsuicidal self-injury (NSSI), and suicidality. We hypo...
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COVID-19 resulted in mass quarantine measures early in the pandemic. This disruption of daily life widened inequities and made children one of the most vulnerable populations during the crisis. This national, cross-sectional “COVID-Kids” study collected data from almost 500 parent–child dyads using standardized measures to better understand the eff...
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Objectives This qualitative study examined how families share information and feelings about advanced pediatric cancer from the perspective of both parents and children, as well as how these perspectives vary by child developmental stage. Methods Participants (24 mothers, 20 fathers, 23 youth [children and adolescents]) were from a larger longitud...
Preprint
Background/Objectives Little is known about the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact on the quality of life (QoL) of children with cancer, who may be more vulnerable to the pandemic’s effects. This paper examined: (1) associations between COVID-19 exposure and impact on QoL in children with cancer, and 2) potential moderation based on child’s cancer st...
Article
Objective: Research suggests families whose infants are admitted to the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit (NICU) experience elevated distress and may have pre-existing risk factors for maladjustment. This study sought to validate the newly developed Psychosocial Assessment Tool (PAT-NICU/Cardiac Intensive Care Unit [CICU]), a comprehensive screening me...
Article
Objectives We identified types of interventions used by bereaved family members and examined associations with demographic and medical factors. Furthermore, we examined associations between distress and intervention use among bereaved families. Methods Bereaved families ( n = 85) were recruited from three children's hospitals 3–12 months after the...
Article
Fertility navigators (FNs) are important in communicating infertility risk and fertility preservation (FP) options to patients receiving gonadotoxic therapies. This retrospective study examined electronic medical records of patients with fertility consults at a large pediatric institution (2017‐2019), before and after hiring a full‐time FN. Of 738...
Article
Aim: Little research exists on coronavirus (COVID-19) vaccine hesitancy among caregivers of children with cancer. We aimed to (a) describe vaccine hesitancy in parents of children with cancer for both their child and self, and (b) examine the mediating role of parent-reported COVID impact on the association between COVID exposure and vaccine hesit...
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Many childhood cancer survivors desire biological children but are at risk for infertility after treatment. One option for mitigating risk is the use of fertility preservation prior to gonadotoxic therapy. Adolescents and emerging adults may rely on their parents to help them decide whether to use fertility preservation. While this is often a colla...
Article
Objective Approximately half of male childhood cancer survivors experience impaired fertility, yet fertility preservation (FP) remains underutilized. Although parent recommendation influences adolescents’ decision-making, parents may be uncertain and/or underrate their sons’ parenthood goals. This study assessed parent–adolescent and family-level c...
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Half of male childhood cancer survivors experience treatment-related fertility impairment, which can lead to distress. Survivors often regret forgoing fertility preservation (FP), and decisional dissatisfaction is associated with a lower quality of life. This mixed methods study examined short-term FP decisional satisfaction among families of male...
Article
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PurposeOver half of males experience fertility impairment after childhood cancer therapy, which often causes psychosocial distress. Yet, fertility preservation (FP) remains underutilized. The goals of this study were to determine the feasibility and impact of implementing a family-centered FP values clarification tool on sperm banking attempts amon...
Article
Background: Approximately half of male childhood cancer survivors experience fertility impairment, which can cause psychological distress. Sperm banking remains underutilized among adolescent males with cancer. Parent recommendation influences banking decisions, yet multi-informant studies have not been conducted to examine fertility preservation...
Chapter
This chapter examines the contributions of expectant parents’ recollections of their own parents’ coparenting and the current quality of their couple relationship to their newly forming coparenting relationship. Data from 182 dual-earner, expectant, different-sex couples were used. Couples were observed during the third trimester of pregnancy engag...
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The primary focus of this study was to understand obesity and depressive symptoms in college women. Using non-obese women as a contrast group, obese and non-obese women were compared on body image and psychological adjustment. Additional analyses further examined the obese women by comparing obese women with high versus low depressive symptoms. A t...
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Using data from a sample of 182 dual-earner different-gender couples who were followed across their transition to parenthood, we adopted a dyadic approach to examine associations between expectant mothers’ and fathers’ attachment anxiety and avoidance in the third trimester of pregnancy and their own and their partners’ jealousy of the partner–infa...
Article
This study examined associations between parents' self-reported adult attachment and observed parenting behavior using a dyadic and family systemic approach. 182 primiparous expectant couples (182 mothers and 182 fathers) reported on their attachment avoidance and anxiety during the third trimester of pregnancy and were observed interacting with th...
Article
Although the association between maternal gatekeeping and relationship functioning has been explored by a few studies, none of these have focused on fathers’ perceptions of these constructs. Given that today's new fathers are challenged by elevated expectations for active parenting and coparenting even as most new mothers remain primary caregivers...
Article
This study examined the longitudinal associations between fathers’ observed parenting behaviors and father-infant attachment (n = 58 father-infant dyads). Fathers were observed playing with their infants at 9 months postpartum and were assessed for stimulating behaviors (i.e. physical and/or object stimulation), as well as their sensitivity and int...
Article
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To better understand the long-term implications of coparenting quality for adult child outcomes, we examined the associations between coparenting quality in the family of origin (Generation 1; G1), and attachment avoidance and anxiety and perceived relationship functioning of new parents (Generation 2; G2) using a dyadic approach. Dual-earner famil...

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