Psychosexual problems in male childhood malignancy survivors

We studied the development of psychosexuality and object relationships in 58 young males who had survived malignancies in childhood. Using a psychodynamically oriented, semistructured psychiatric interview, we formed 13 criteria for comparisons between patients over and under 18 years of age. Of these 13 criteria, 12 showed that development was equally problematic for the older and younger patients. Our findings indicate that, in many patients, the adolescent process remains problematic during development, with obvious difficulties in establishing the final sexual organization, separating from internalized primary objects, and making contacts with same-sex and opposite-sex peers.