Oncological disease in childhood or adolescence can represent a highly traumatic experience, considering its physical, psychological and social consequences in the short and long term. The literature has investigated this population both in the acute phase of the disease and at the end of the therapies to explore the potentially traumatic effects of this experience. While some studies support the non-incidence of post-traumatic symptoms related to the disease and underline a post-traumatic growth, other studies confirm a high risk of developing post-traumatic symptoms. This risk increases according to specific demographic (eg. age of diagnosis) and clinical (eg. type of disease, of treatments, etc.) characteristics. The literature also points out that these consequences can be mediated by some factors, including coping strategies, that is the way patients manage stress.
The study aims: to investigate the presence of post-traumatic symptoms in patients out of therapy and in follow-up care; to explore the possible association between this post-traumatic symptomatology and the coping strategies used by the patients; to focus the possible correlation between post traumatic symptoms, coping and the demographic and clinical characteristics of patients.
