Abstract

MOTTA, Alessandra Brunoro  and  ENUMO, Sônia Regina Fiorim. Recreational psychological intervention for coping with hospitalization in children with cancer. Psic.: Teor. e Pesq. [online]. 2010, vol.26, n.3, pp. 445-454. ISSN 0102-3772.  http://dx.doi.org/10.1590/S0102-37722010000300007.

The assessment of coping strategies is an important resource for the development of intervention techniques to minimize the psychological impact of childhood cancer. Behavioral effects of a recreational psychological intervention program were evaluated among 12 children with cancer, aged from 7 to 12 years old and hospitalized in a public pediatric hospital. The Computer Assessment Instrument of Coping to Hospitalization (AEHcomp) was used with two groups: G1, submitted to the recreational psychological intervention focused on coping, and G2, submitted to the traditional free play. The between-groups comparison demonstrated no significant difference for facilitating and non-facilitating behaviors during the pre and the posttest. The intra-group comparison showed a significant decrease in non-facilitating behaviors during the post-test, suggesting a possible positive effect of the recreational intervention program focused on coping.

Keywords : coping strategies; child hospitalization; therapeutic play; pediatric psychology.