To deal with the suffering caused by childhood cancer, patients and their families use different coping strategies, among which, spirituality appears a way of minimizing possible damage. In this context, the purpose of the present study was to analyze the influence of spirituality in childhood cancer care, involving biopsychosocial aspects of the child, the family, and the health care team facing the disease. To accomplish this purpose, a nonsystematic review of literature of articles on national and international electronic databases (Scientific Electronic Library Online [SciELO], PubMed, and Latin American and Caribbean Health Sciences Literature [LILACS]) was conducted using the search terms "spirituality," "child psychology," "child," and "cancer," as well as on other available resources. After the search, 20 articles met the eligibility criteria and were included in the final sample. Our review showed that the relation between spirituality and health has lately become a subject of growing interest among researchers, as a positive influence of spirituality in the people's welfare was noted. Studies that were retrieved using the mentioned search strategy in electronic databases, independently assessed by the authors according to the systematic review, showed that spirituality emerges as a driving force that helps pediatric patients and their families in coping with cancer. Health care workers have been increasingly attentive to this dimension of care. However, it is necessary to improve their knowledge regarding the subject. The search highlighted that spirituality is considered a source of comfort and hope, contributing to a better acceptance of his/her chronic condition by the child with cancer, as well as by the family. Further up-to-date studies facing the subject are, thus, needed. It is also necessary to better train health care practitioners, so as to provide humanized care to the child with cancer.
As an important public health issue, childhood depression deserves special attention, considering the serious and lasting consequences of the disease to child development. Taking this into consideration, the present study was based on the following question: what practical contributions to clinicians and researchers does the current literature on childhood depression have to offer? The objective of the present study was to conduct a systematic review of articles regarding childhood depression. To accomplish this purpose, a systematic review of articles on childhood depression, published from January 1, 2010 to November 24, 2012, on MEDLINE and SciELO databases was carried out. Search terms were "depression" (medical subject headings [MeSH]), "child" (MeSH), and "childhood depression" (keyword). Of the 180 retrieved studies, 25 met the eligibility criteria. Retrieved studies covered a wide range of aspects regarding childhood depression, such as diagnosis, treatment, prevention and prognosis. Recent scientific literature regarding childhood depression converge to, directly or indirectly, highlight the negative impacts of depressive disorders to the children's quality of life. Unfortunately, the retrieved studies show that childhood depression commonly grows in a background of vulnerability and poverty, where individual and familiar needs concerning childhood depression are not always taken into consideration. In this context, this review demonstrated that childhood-onset depression commonly leads to other psychiatric disorders and co-morbidities. Many of the retrieved studies also confirmed the hypothesis that human resources (eg, health care team in general) are not yet adequately trained to address childhood depression. Thus, further research on the development of programs to prepare health care professionals to deal with childhood depression is needed, as well as complementary studies, with larger and more homogeneous samples, centered on prevention and treatment of childhood depression.
