Coping strategies and locus of control in children suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia

Abstract

Introduction The start of the treatment phase of Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia (ALL) diagnosis represents an emotional distress condition for the child (Hildenbrand et al., 2011), which requires to use some resources to manage this condition in an adaptive way, one of these resources is represented of coping strategies. The study focuses on children’s coping strategies according to the model of Miller (1987; Miller et al., 1995), which distinguishes between two specific directions, monitoring and blunting. At the same time, the study presents an innovative aspect focusing on the relationship between coping and locus of control, as well as the possible mirroring between child’s and his mother’s coping strategies. Objective The study investigates correlations between coping strategies and locus of control in children suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia. At the same time, it investigates correlations between children’s and their mothers’ coping strategies. Method The study was performed within a group of 20 children suffering from Acute Lymphoblastic Leukemia at the start of the treatment phase and their mothers. The used tools were: Monitor Blunter Style Scale (Miller, 1987); Child Behavioral Style Scale (Phipps, Fairclough, Mulhern, 1995); Locus of Control Scale for Children (Nowicki, Strickland, 1973). Results The data were analyzed by non-parametric statistics (Spearman's r). They highlight statistically significant correlations only between child’s monitoring coping strategies and external locus of control (r=.645; p<.01); on the descriptive level prevail active coping strategies (monitoring: =18,35; blunting: =13,55) and external locus of control (internal: =51,9; external: =39,05). There aren’t statistically significant correlations between child’s and his mother’s coping strategies. Conclusions Results show some interesting correlations between several variables of child’s psychological functioning, which would require further investigation.