Threat appraisal and adjustment among children with cancer

A quantitative measure of appraisals of threat appropriate for the experien ce of coping with childhood cancer was developed. Forty children with cance r completed the measure in response to a medically related event, a peer-re lated event, and a family related event. Child-rated hope and parent-rated measures of dependency, anxiety/depression, and peer relations served as ou tcome variables. Four factors of threat were created on the basis of previo us' research and intercorrelations of the nine subscales composing the curr ent measure: threat to self, threat to others, threat of loss, and threat o f physical harm to self. The results indicated that children's ratings of t he four types of threat varied with the context of the stressful event (i.e ., medical, peer, or family). Regression analyses provided initial support for a direct relationship between specific dimensions of threat and measure s of adjustment. Implications for theory and applications are discussed.