Behavioral Resiliency Among Children Surviving Brain Tumors: A Longitudinal Study

Abstract

Compared the social and behavioral adjustment of 40 long-term survivors of childhood brain tumors to a matched control group of children surviving cancers that did not involve the central nervous system. Both groups exhibited significant elevations on the Behavior Problems scales of the Child Behavior Checklist (CBCL) relative to nonclinical norms, although approximately 50% of the children in both groups did not have significantly elevated scores on the CBCL. Contrary to expectations, the brain tumor group did not have significantly more signs of psychopathology than did the cancer control group and examination of serial evaluations suggested a significant decrease in symptoms of emotional disturbance since diagnosis in most children treated for brain tumors. Children in the brain tumor group did display more problems in the Social Competence scales than did children in the cancer control group, especially those related to inhibition of activities and school performance.