Self-reported worries among long-term survivors of childhood cancer and their peers

This study examined self-reported worries of long-term survivors of childho od cancer. Three stages of analysis were conducted. Stage 1 included a comp arative analysis of long-term survivors and young people without a history of cancer, Stage 2 drew on a hospital-based sample of long-term survivors a nd a qualitative analysis of the open-ended comments from a panel of 20 add itional survivors, to examine the reliability and validity of the results f rom Stage 1. Stage 3 examined factors that influenced variation in degree o f worries among survivors in the first sample. The findings suggest that in several related areas of general health and self-image, the survivors worr ied less than the comparison sample did. However, in areas related specific ally to cancer, the survivors' degree of worry was higher than the degree r eported by the comparison sample. These results are discussed in the contex t of the debate about the prevalence of psychopathology and psychological d istress among long-term survivors of childhood cancer.