Health-related Worries, Self-image, and Life Outlooks of Long-term Survivors of Childhood Cancer

This article poses three questions: what do childhood cancer survivors worry about? What characteristics prompt some to worry more and others less? What effect do worries have on survivors' self-image and life outlooks? Data from 303 survivors of childhood cancer demonstrated significant relationships among worries, "objective" factors like physical after-effects or relapse, and survivors' self-images and life outlooks. However, findings also indicated that subjectively experienced worries, perceptions about one's cancer status, age at diagnosis and gender were more strongly associated with self-image and life outlook. Psychosocial interventions andfuture research are suggested.