Reflections of testicular damage on psychosexual development in adolescent males who survived childhood malignancies.

Abstract

We studied testicular growth and psychosexual development in 41 young males who had survived malignancies in childhood. The focus of the study was evaluation of the connection between the possible pathologies of these two phenomena. The size of the testicles was measured in millilitres and compared with reference values. The psychosexual development was evaluated using three approaches: the interviewer's evaluation, the patient's subjective assessment and information gained by specific questions. On the basis of the developmental theory of adolescence described by Blos, the appropriate development in each criterion was defined. Our results indicated that both psychosexual and somatic development were impaired. A significant relationship existed between testicular size and three criteria assessed by the patients: the patients who felt that their pubertal development was different from that of their peers, those who felt that their developmental failures were related to their personal medical histories, and those who did not feel that they had the ability to have sexual intercourse and/or children. The last group had significantly smaller testicles than the others. We speculate that the perception of the small size of testicles may trigger the psychological experiences of failed development, leading to narcissistic problems in adolescent development. In order to prevent these harmful consequences it will be necessary for different specialists to work together with the families and patients.