Investigation of post-traumatic growth and traumatic and psychological effects in children and adolescents diagnosed with cancer

Abstract

Purpose: The aim of this study was to evaluate and compare traumatic and mental effects and PTG by comparing a patient group in hematological-oncological cancer remission with a healthy control group. Materials and methods: Children and adolescents aged 8-18 years, who were in remission with a diagnosis of childhood cancer, and presented at the Paediatric Hematology Department of PAUTF between 1 September 2021 and 30 April 2022 were included as the study group and a control group was formed of healthy children and adolescents with no history of cancer diagnosis. The Post-traumatic Growth Inventory (PTGI), the Child Revised Impact of Events Scale (CRIES-13) and the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale-Child Version (RCADS-CV) were applied to all the children in both groups. A sociodemographic information form prepared by the researchers, and the Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale- Parent Version (RCADS-PV) were applied to parents. Results: Evaluation was made of 27 patients aged 8-18 years with a diagnosis of childhood cancer who were in remission, and a control group of 25 healthy children. No statistically significant difference was determined between the groups in respect of parental ages, family structure, parental educational levels, and mean monthly family income (p>0.05).In the comparisons of the raw scores of the RCADS-PV between the two groups, RCADS-PV Panic Disorder, Obsessive Compulsive Disorder, and Depression subscale scores were found to be statistically significantly higher in the control group than in the remission group (p=0.048; p=0.045; p=0.047). When the CRIES-13 scores of the two groups were compared, no statistically significant difference was found (p=0.659).When the PTGI scales and subscales of the two groups were compared; while no statistically significant difference was found in the total PTGI score (p=0.066), the change in life philosophy subscale and the change in relationships with others subscale was found to be statistically significantly higher in the remission group than in the control group (p=0.038; p=0.05).Considering the relationship between CRIES-13 and PTGI scale scores, no statistically significant relationship was found in the remission group. Conclusion: Cancer survivors grow from this negative experience, become stronger and survive with positive gains; they can adjust their expectations from themselves, the world and their future. Considering the current prevalence of cancer and increasing survival rates with treatments, new multicenter studies with larger samples are needed on this subject.