Visible physical impairment and psychological adjustment among pediatric cancer survivors.

ABSTRACT

Because psychological and psychiatric assessments of childhood cancer survivors have revealed a high rate of psychiatric sequelae, the authors investigated the relationship between the degree of physical unpairment resulting from cancer treatment and the psychosocial adjustment problems of survivors. Ratings of physical impairment were based on the visibility of physical residua as well as the functional limitations they imposed. The results indicated that the psychosocial adjustment of survivors is not significantly related to the severity of physical impairment.