Summary:The purpose of this study was to assess the psychosocial adjustment of patients who had been treated with allogeneic stem cell transplantation (SCT) in our clinic. Selection criteria for patients were to be aged 14-30 years at the time of the follow-up, to be at least 2 years post-SCT and to have a very good knowledge of German. Among 31 eligible patients, 26 participated (84% response rate). The patients were between 15 and 27 years old and were on average 7 years (range 2-13) post-SCT. Research instruments consisted of a demographic questionnaire and various subscales of established psychological measures for which data from a sample of bone cancer survivors and population norms were available. About 35% of patients showed high levels of anxiety, 62% appeared to be extremely sensitive and vulnerable, and 35% showed strong, unfulfilled needs in their love lives. In the other domains tested (self-esteem, family and peer relationships, school/ vocational performance, etc), no noticeable differences were found between the subjects and comparable populations. There was no significant association between psychosocial outcome and demographic features or clinical data. Our results suggest that patients who underwent SCT in their childhood or adolescence are at risk of developing long-term emotional or social problems. Due to the retrospective design of our study and the small sample size, no predictive factors for psychosocial distress could be identified. Keywords: BMT; stem cell transplantation; psychosocial adjustment; quality of life; children With the rapid development and progress in the disciplines of allogeneic BMT and blood stem cell transplantation (SCT), an increasing number of pediatric transplant recipients evidence long-term disease-free survival. Nevertheless, these medical procedures are still associated with many adverse side-effects, prolonged hospitalization and isolation, risk of persistent treatment-related sequelae and a relatively high possibility of death. These circumstances constitute enormous challenges and place considerable demands on the coping skills, psychological integrity and Correspondence: Dr R Topf, St Anna Children's Hospital, Kinderspitalgasse 6, A-1090 Vienna, Austria Received 9 October 1998; accepted 17 February 1999 social supports of the children and their parents. Being confronted with a consistent sequence of psychological and physical stressors, there are hardly any patients who do not show in at least one stage of the treatment conspicious behavioral and psychological responses to this strain, including anxiety, depressive mood, withdrawal, hostility, non-compliance, and others.1 In our clinic, an experienced multidisciplinary team tries to supply direct emotional support and provide appropriate interventions in order to reduce the various types of distress.2 However, there always remains some uncertainty if the negative symptoms dissipate after treatment or if they develop into persistent personality disturbances.Reviewing the recent literature, we found a number...