Young at heart: Understanding the unique psychosocial adjustment of young implantable cardioverter defibrillator recipients

This article reviews the data related to psychosocial adjustment of young I CD recipients, postulates theories to explain potential adjustment difficul ties to ICD therapy experienced by younger recipients, and suggests clinica l management techniques for addressing the unique psychosocial concerns of young ICD recipients. Studies of young ICD recipients suggest that a wide r ange of psychosocial adjustment issues are prominent in the post-ICD implan tation period and that the issues may be different from older ICD recipient s. The disability-stress-coping model and the transactional-stress-coping m odel are postulated as explanations for the unique adjustment concerns of c hildren and adolescents with ICDs. Social comparison theory is also applied to the concerns of young adults with ICDs such that they often lack same a ge peers to compare experiences with cardiac difficulties. Brief, clinic-ba sed interventions by health care providers, like a screening and referral h euristic and an "ICD Buddy" system, are suggested to increase effective cop ing and decrease social isolation for young ICD recipients.