Identifying Survivors of Pediatric Hodgkin's Disease Who Need Psychological Interventions

Abstract

A sample of 42 young adults who survived Hodgkin's disease in childhood was divided into those who had adjusted well to their illness and its treatment (n = 29) and those who had adjusted poorly (n = 13). Canonical discriminant function analysis of 12 variables derived from a priori hypotheses resulting in the entry of three significant discriminating variables: psychological symptomatology, age at diagnosis, and self-reported adjustment to illness. These data are presented as a first step toward classifying survivors of pediatric cancer and targeting those in need of psychotherapeutic interventions.