Emotion Regulation in Childhood with Cancer (Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia)

Problem statement: Emotion regulation in children with Leukemia actively undergoing a chemotherapy program has distinctive forms of regulation in the research on different cultures. Furthermore, the capability of children to regulate their emotions during a dynamic process involving frequent hospitalization and painful treatment is of increasing interest to researchers. This must also take into account how the role of culture can influence emotion regulation. There is limited research about emotion regulation in sick children, especially children with Acute Lymphocytic Leukemia (ALL) in Indonesia. Thus in this study we aimed to explore emotion regulation in children with ALL during ongoing chemotherapy. Approach: A descriptive qualitative approach was chosen to carry out this study. The participants were six persons, consisting of four children aged 10-13 years old and two persons aged 20-21 years old. Emotion regulation according to Gross’s theory comprises of situation selection, situation modification, attention deployment, cognitive change and response modulation. The emotion regulation was observed during various phases of the participants’ chemotherapy treatment. These were the Induction, Consolidation and Maintenance Phases. Results: Children with leukemia have negative emotions, especially during the initial diagnosis, such as feeling sad, scared, angry, embarrassed and bored. These are experienced in various situations namely diagnosing reinforcement, chemotherapy preparation and the chemotherapy period. In managing their emotions, they develop emotion regulation in both interpersonal and interpersonal ways. An emotion regulation of focused response-is used more in the initial phase when children are diagnosed to have leukemia and antecedent-focused emotion regulation is seen in external parties. After undergoing chemotherapy for 1-3 months, the children are able to feel antecedent-focused emotion regulation in an interpersonal way and the emotion regulation of response focus decreases. Conclusion/Recommendations: Children with their capacity for development and supported by an external stimulus are capable of sorting particular responses in undertaking adaptive response alternatives. These responses can be used for various kinds of condition.