“Vitality” a Missing Link in Adjustment to Childhood Cancer

BACKGROUND: A number of randomized trial studies and longitudinal researches emphasize that despite problems in social adjustment and cognitive damages, children with cancer demonstrate good emotional adjustment. METHODS: Most of the research findings in this area are obtained using objective tools such as questionnaires. “Vitality of children”, as a drawing tool, was used as a basis to draw a comparison between children with cancer and healthy children in this study. Accordingly, 112 children with cancer (5 girls and 57 boys aged 3 to 12 years) and 123 healthy children (77 girls and 46 boys aged 3 to 12 years) participated in the study. RESULTS: Findings showed that the vitality of the two groups differed significantly. Perhaps, children with cancer repress negative emotions and avoid expressing their feelings. MANOVA was used to compare the vitality scores between groups and to explore the impact of different variables. CONCLUSION: Making use of such tools that indirectly examine the emotional experience of children with cancer would be beneficial. Neglecting this issue can cause children with cancer to be deprived of r receiving supportive counselling.