Children with cancer with different survival perspectives: Defensiveness, control strategies, and psychological adjustment

The main objective of the present study was to investigate whether children with cancer with different survival perspectives differ in their psychological adjustment, defensiveness and their use of cognitive control strategies. Furthermore, the study investigated which variables predict emotional adjustment of these children with cancer most adequately. A total of n = 84 children (n = 43 children in remission and n = 41 children not in remission) participated in the study. They answered questionnaires about control strategies, defensiveness, anxiety and depression. No differences were found in any of the questionnaires between children in remission and relapse. Emotional adjustment of the children was predicted by defensiveness and by positive expectations about the course of the illness. The findings demonstrate the importance of having positive expectations for the emotional adjustment of children with cancer. The strength of the study is the inclusion of a substantial group of children with cancer who have a reduced survival perspective.