APPRAISAL OF LIFE THREAT AND ACUTE TRAUMA RESPONSES IN PEDIATRIC BONE-MARROW TRANSPLANT PATIENTS

Although traumatic responses in children are well-documented following exposure to a variety of life-threatening circumstances, little is kn own about the subjective appraisal of children during the acute exposu re. This paper presents both descriptive and quantifiable data regardi ng the responses of children during the acute phase of hospitalization for bone marrow transplantation, an extremely aggressive treatment fo r otherwise fatal illnesses. Children were able to appreciate the life -threatening nature of their illness and its treatment. They reported few symptoms consistent with a traumatic stress response. These findin gs are in contrast to recent data on survivors of childhood cancer, wh o generally report that they did nor understand that their illness pos ed a threat to their lives, while reporting moderate levels of posttra umatic stress symptoms up to 10 years after completion of successful t reatment. Implications of these findings are discussed.