Oncology nurses should be aware of the potential risk factors (recent completion of treatment and younger current age) and the high prevalence and severity of PTSD among survivors of childhood cancer to identify patients at higher risk and develop programs that prevent, limit, and treat PTSD.

PurposeThis innovative pilot study was designed to provide research-based evidence on the variables to consider informing a child of his/her cancer diagnosis, so as to minimize the negative psychosocial effects of the cancer experience on survivors. The hypotheses of the study were that “good information” about cancer, will allow the child a better understanding way to cope with treatment and improve sociopsychological outcomes at adulthood.MethodsNinety-one adult childhood cancer (CC) survivors got the questionnaires while waiting to their routine checkup at a grate CC medical center in center Israel.ResultsTo our surprise and not according to the hypothesis, there was a difference between children diagnosed up to 12 years of age and those diagnosed during adolescence. (Participants were divided into two groups according to their age at diagnosis: from birth to 12 years old and from age 12–18). In the group diagnosed at a younger age, those who had received “good information” were found to have better quality of life, lower mental pain, and higher mental pain tolerance than did those in the same group (diagnosed at a younger age) who received “not good information.” By contrast, in the group diagnosed during adolescence, those who had received “not good information” scored higher on these measures than did their counterparts who had received “good information.”ConclusionGiven that information conveyed to children diagnosed with cancer can have a significant impact on survivors’ quality of life, further research is needed to determine the precise information to be divulged to children at the time of diagnosis. In the meantime, extreme caution, sensitivity, and careful judgment are required.Clinical relevanceFindings of the current study and of future studies can be used to formulate clear guidelines for assessing a child’s readiness and the information to be divulged, so as to improve the quality of life of CC survivors.

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The objective was to examine cognitive correlates of mental pain (MP) experiences in adult survivors of pediatric cancer in terms of meaning assignment tendencies. The hypotheses were that MP in the present and in the past would correspond to a pattern of meaning variables reflecting the subjects approach to MP.The objective was to examine cognitive correlates of mental pain experiences in adult survivors of pediatric cancer. The specific correlates on which the study focuses are meaning assignment tendencies, such as tendencies to focus on functions of objects or emotional manifestations or temporal and locational characteristics that mediate the manner in which an individual perceives and conceptualizes the world around or within him or her. Previous studies were devoted to identifying the sets of meaning assignment tendencies corresponding to constructs such as personality traits or specific emotions [1][2][3][4][5]. Sets of meaning assignment tendencies provide insights into the nature and functioning of the studied construct and enable planning guidelines for improved coping.The number of patients who survive pediatric cancer is about 80% and is increasing [6]. This situation has prompted an expanding effort to examine the late effects of pediatric cancer and its treatments so as to devise improved methods for helping the patients and their families. The medical problems of pediatric cancer survivors are common and have been the theme of many studies [7]. The psychological problems of pediatric cancer survivors are likely to be no less frequent in view of the duration, the difficulties, the pain and the anxiety often involved in undergoing the procedures of diagnosis, testing and treatments for pediatric cancer [8,9]. Studies show that in comparison to healthy subjects pediatric cancer survivors have a lower QOL [10], poor self-esteem and academic difficulties [11]. lower self-concept [12], more depression, anxiety, pain, and insomnia [13], fatigue, emotional symptoms Method: The sample included 61 adult childhood cancer survivors (mean age was 25.03 years (SD = 5.56) ranging from 18 to 41 years), who had been diagnosed and treated, mostly (n = 27) for lymphoma, M = 12.84 years ago, at the age of M = 12.2 years. The tools were: A background information questionnaire; The MP questionnaire (Orbach) and the Test of Meanings (Kreitler).Results: A two-step factor analysis of the meaning variables yielded eight meaning-based factors shared by MP in the present and in the past. Regression analyses with age, gender and marital status in the first step and the eight meaning-based predictors in the second step provided significant results showing that MP in the past was related to more predictors than MP in the present and focused mainly on shifting away through avoidance and negation from the painful themes this preventing coping with them productively. The results provide guidelines for coping interventions.

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The paper deals with a review of “Mental Pain in Israeli Adult Childhood Cancer Survivors and Its Effects on their Quality of Life” by H. Raz, N. Tabak, Y. Alkalay, & S. Kreitler (1). The review focuses on theoretical and therapeutic implications of the findings. The major theoretical elaboration of the findings focuses on the construct of mental pain. This seems advisable both because there are several apparently similar concepts which presumably render mental pain superfluous and because mental pain was found to characterize pediatric cancer survivors who otherwise were found to be well adjusted as adults. The new redefinition of mental pain focuses on the components of low self-image and low meaningfulness of life. The constructs of mental pain in the past and of tolerance of mental pain were found to be less useful in this context. The new redefinition points to two new venues of interventions for reducing mental pain: enhancing self-image and increasing meaningfulness of life. The two kinds of interventions, which are based on elaborating meanings, are briefly described.

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