Abstract

LAWRENZ, Priscila; PEUKER, Ana Carolina Wolf Baldino  and  CASTRO, Elisa Kern de. Illness perception and indicators of PTSD in mothers of childhood cancer survivors. Temas psicol. [online]. 2016, vol.24, n.2, pp. 427-438. ISSN 1413-389X.  http://dx.doi.org/10.9788/TP2016.2-03Pt.

Objective: to investigate the relationship among illness perception, posttraumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and posttraumatic symptomatology in mothers of childhood cancer survivors. Method: ex post facto design. Participants: 16 mothers with a mean age of 41.87 years old (SD=8.68). The instruments used regarding the illness perception (Revised Illness Perception Questionnaire for Healthy People [IPQ-RH]) and PTSD (Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Checklist - Civilian Version [PCL-C]) were answered through a digital platform. Results: According to the evaluation criteria of the PCL-C, eight mothers (50%) obtained PTSD diagnosis indicators. Regarding the posttraumatic symptomatology, 13 mothers (81.25%) presented increased arousal, 12 (75%) reliving and eight (50%) avoidance. Considering the global score of the PCL-C, the average was 43 points (SD=14.76), indicating moderate level of PTSD indicators. Regarding the IPQ-RH, emotional representation dimension correlated positively with reliving (r=.615; p<.05), avoidance (r=.679; p<.01) and the total average of the PCL-C (r=.631; p<.01). The personal control dimension correlated negatively with avoidance (r=-.673; p<.01). Conclusions: the results showed that the experience of having a child with cancer can reflect negatively on the mental health of mothers, turning them into a population vulnerable to stress, especially when they maintain a negative emotional representation of the illness.

Keywords : Illness perception; Posttraumatic Stress Disorder; childhood câncer; survivors; mothers.

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