Coping and Attachment in Pediatric Oncohematology

Cancer can be a traumatic and particularly salient experience in a person's history. The ways in which the pediatric patient copes with it depend on the interaction of several factors present in his or her life context, primarily the relationship that is established between parent and child.

Despite the paucity of studies in the literature in this regard, it would seem that parental coping is predictive of child coping. Coping strategies represent the ways in which people try to manage traumatic events or stressful everyday situations.

Currently, the literature identifies two main categories of coping strategies: emotion-oriented and problem-oriented strategies. The former are aimed on reducing stress-induced unpleasant emotions (e.g., problem avoidance, positive reappraisal, etc.); the latter, on the other hand, focus on stress dissolution/alteration (e.g., problem identification and resolution, stress cause research). Some studies, previously conducted in oncology, show that emotion-focused coping strategies are associated with better adaptation immediately after diagnosis, but their positive influence tends to weaken over time; problem-focused coping strategies are more correlated with poor adaptation immediately after diagnosis, but in the later stages of treatment.

The clinical experience with patients in the Pediatric Oncohematology Department brings out the need to develop and structure a psychological assessment model, in order to ensure a more effective care of the family units followed.

The research aims, through a single administration of psychological tests, to investigate the role of attachment and some variables (age, gender, stage of treatment, stage of the disease, social support, resilience, ability to adapt to environmental stimuli, emotional state of of caregivers) on the coping strategies implemented by the parents of patients and the patients themselves, in order to differentiate the types of psychological intervention, to try to reduce psychological distress and increase levels of mental well-being.