A PROSPECTIVE-STUDY OF THE PSYCHOLOGICAL ADJUSTMENT OF CHILDREN WITH CANCER

Purpose: This paper describes the prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems and the social competencies of forty children with cancer immediately after their diagnosis and one year post-diagnosis. Patients and Methods: At both points of time the problems and competencies of the children with cancer were compared with the problems and competencies of a matched group of children living in the community. Results: The results suggest that early in their illnesses, younger children with cancer experience more internalising problems than children in the community. However, the younger children with cancer improved significantly in these areas during the year after their diagnosis. As a result, one year after their diagnosis there was little difference in the prevalence of problems amongst the younger children with cancer and the children in the community. The older children with cancer did not appear to have more problems than children in the community at either the first or the second assessment. Conclusions: The results of the study draw attention to possible differences in the prevalence of emotional and behavioral problems experienced by younger and older children with cancer. The results also suggest that amongst younger children with cancer the prevalence of problems declines during the year after their initial diagnoses.