Positive and negative consequences with regard to cancer during adolescence. Experiences two years after diagnosis

Abstract

Two years after diagnosis those struck by cancer during adolescence experience not only a number of negative, but also positive, consequences of the cancer disease and its treatment.

Adolescents’ and Young Adults’ Experiences of Childhood Cancer

“…A clear majority of the young survivors seemed to get along well in spite of major or minor complications from their disease and treatment, which confirms findings from previous studies 21,29 . However, a small group of the young survivors (7%) experienced influence from major complications that were difficult for them to handle.…”

“…Negative impacts on social development and autonomy, socio-demographic issues like employment and cohabitation/marriage, and the effects on psychological well-being related to the threat of recurrence and uncertainty about the future have been found 18 . On the other hand, adolescent survivors of childhood cancer also report positive consequences from the cancer experience: personal growth, increased self-esteem, maturity, a positive attitude towards life and improved relationships 17,[19][20][21] .…”

Making sense of resilience: A review from the field of paediatric psycho-oncology and a proposal of a model for its study. [Explicando la resiliencia: una revisión desde la psico-oncología pediátrica y una propuesta de modelo para su estudio]

“…So far, obtained results suggest that the vast majority of adolescent cancer survivors are able to report both positive and negative consequences as a result of the oncological experience, with different effects on their quality of life and adjustment in survivorship (Engvall, Cernvall, Larsson, von Essen & Mattsson, 2011;Mattsson et al, 2007;Maurice-Stam, Grootenhuis, Caron & Last, 2007;Sundberg et al, 2009 Phipps et al, 2007). However there is no Spanish adaptation for this scale -there is only a Spanish translation for Mexican population -and few studies have used it in childhood cancer survivors' samples so far (Maurice-Stam et al, 2010).…”

“…In the last years, there is a growing body of empirical evidence in this field, as a result of an increasing number of studies on BF and PTG. It suggests that, among those subjects who report certain benefits and personal growth following the struggle against adversity, healthrelated quality of life results and/or health perceptions are more satisfactory than those who did not perceived any benefit Mattsson et al, 2007;Sundberg et al, 2009). However, results are not conclusive yet.…”

Surviving Childhood Cancer: Relationship between Exercise and Coping on Quality of Life

“…Response shift states that the cancer experience might modify the internal standards of survivors, resulting in changes in the meaning of their self-evaluation and hence in a possibly different experience of problems, conceiving the experience as a potential transforming event (Stam et al, 2006). In this sense, the good adjustment of these cancer survivors could be explained as a result of a benefit finding, produced by the experience of positive consequences, and/or even some sort of personal growth (Mattsson, Ringnér, Ljungman, & von Essen, 2007;Sundberg, Lampic, Björk, Arvidson, & Wettergren, 2009;Yi & Zebrack, 2010;Zebrack et al, 2010).…”