Ego Identity Development of Adolescents with Cancer

The literature on the psychological adjustment of adolescents with cancer contains many contradictions. The current study assessed the psychosocial adjustment of teen-age cancer patients from a developmental perspective. Forty-two adolescents with cancer and healthy matched controls were administere...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Journal of pediatric psychology 1987-06, Vol.12 (2), p.203-213
Main Authors: Gavaghan, Mary P., Roach, Jane E.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Adolescent
adolescents
Adult
cancer
Child Development
Ego
ego identity development
Female
Humans
Male
Neoplasms - psychology
psychosocial development
Citations: Items that cite this one
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Summary:The literature on the psychological adjustment of adolescents with cancer contains many contradictions. The current study assessed the psychosocial adjustment of teen-age cancer patients from a developmental perspective. Forty-two adolescents with cancer and healthy matched controls were administered Archer and Waterman's (1982) Ego Identity Interview and Marcia's (1966) Ego Identity Incomplete Sentence Blank. Healthy adolescents attained significantly higher identity status levels in interview content areas of career, marriage, and children, but not religion, and also achieved higher Ego Identity scores. The implications of these findings for prevention and treatment are discussed.
ISSN:0146-8693
1465-735X
DOI:10.1093/jpepsy/12.2.203