Poszttraumás növekedés gyermekkorban daganatos betegségen átesett gyógyult fiatal felnőttek és daganatos betegségen átesett gyermekek szülei körében

Abstract

Theoretical background: Childhood cancer is a serious, traumatic experience for the child and for the parents of the child. However, in addition to negative psychological consequences, in a lot of cases positive changes, posttraumatic growth (PTG) can also occur in the experience of the child and the parents. Aim : The aim of this study was to explore the factors affecting posttraumatic growth in young adult survivors of childhood cancer and the parents of childhood cancer survivors. Methods : In our retrospective study, 53 young adult survivors of childhood cancer (17 male and 36 female, mean age = 27.5 years, SD = 5.4 years) and 112 parents (9 male and 103 female, mean age = 44.9 years, SD = 6.7 years) participated. We examined the relationship between PTG and demographic (gender, age, disease variables (time since diagnosis, age of diagnosis, risk of diagnosis) and psychosocial factors (social support, emotional regulation, well-being, posttraumatic stress symptoms) using descriptive, comparative, correlational and regression analysis. Results : The results confirmed that more than 90% of young adults and parents experienced PTG at least at minimal level at least in one dimension of growth. In the group of young adult survivors 50% of PTG variance was explained by social support, intrusive thoughts from posttraumatic stress symptoms, dampening of positive emotions, and well-being. In the group of parents hyperarousal, self-focused rumination and well-being explained 26.5% of PTG variance. Conclusions: The results confirm that in the explanation of PTG different variables are working in a complex relationship system. The results of our study show that in the planning of clinical psychological interventions, in addition to individual treatment of negative symptoms associated with the disease, the involvement of the family, the improvement of social factors and various cognitive therapeutic tools could be important for the integration of trauma.