Stress‐resilience capacity of pediatric oncologists: A Swedish nationwide and population‐based study of motivation, emotional distress, and overall life satisfaction

BACKGROUND: Pediatric oncology is an area with heavy emotional distress. In balancing the daily challenges motivational factors might play a key role and could be examined by studying an individual's stress-resilience capacity. This first nationwide population-based study of 89 Swedish pediatric oncologists presents aspects of motivation related to experience and number of patients cared. PROCEDURE: In 2006, a cross-sectional mail survey with questionnaires dealing with motivation, coping resources, life satisfaction and emotional distress was performed. The response rate in the target group was 88%. RESULTS: The physicians wanted to be well informed (98%) and updated at national (93%) and international (90%) level. Established routines gave them security managing different diagnoses (97%). Optimal pediatric oncology included several colleagues (98%) and a multi-professional healthcare team (95%). Time pressure was a reality for every participant. Meeting seriously ill children was a way of being aware of essential issues of life (90%). More experienced pediatricians reported higher impact from motivational factors, past overall life satisfaction and a lower degree of somatization. The future overall life satisfaction was higher among physicians meeting more pediatric oncology patients. Between 8% and 45% of the variance in the stress-resilience capacity of the whole group was explained by low levels of depression, future overall life satisfaction and aspects of motivation. CONCLUSIONS: Pediatric oncologists continuously meet families in crisis. Knowledge of the physicians' stress-resilience capacity is expected to be useful in improving the physician-patient relationship, retaining experienced physicians and recruiting new specialists in this medical field.