Correlates of Control in Pediatric Cancer Patients and Their Families

Physical illness is a life experience which challenges an individual's sense of control and thus represents a potential threat to mental health. For children, a serious illness threatens not only their sense of physical and psychological well-being but also threatens the psychological well-being of their family. In this study, severely ill patients (n = 15) and a member of their family (n = 15) were interviewed. The patients, who ranged in age from 12 to 21 years, were being treated for metastatic solid tumors or lymphoma that failed to respond to conventional therapeutic regimens. Correlates of control for the patients and family members, the relationship between control and developmental stage of the patients, and the difference between levels of control in patients and family member were examined. The findings are discussed in relation to development and their implications for medical management.