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Concepts of death, illness and isolation found in children with leukaemia
1Psychology Department, University of Surrey, London.
Insights
Children with leukemia aged 4-9 years showed similar concept development regarding death compared to healthy children. However, they perceived illness causes differently and felt isolated, as indicated by family drawings.
Area of Science:
- Pediatric Psychology
- Childhood Oncology
- Thanatology
Background:
- Previous research by Lansdown and Benjamin (1985) established a baseline for healthy children's understanding of death.
- Understanding how serious illness impacts a child's cognitive and emotional development is crucial for providing appropriate care.
- Limited research exists on the specific conceptual development of death in children diagnosed with leukemia.
Purpose of the Study:
- To investigate the concept of death development in children with leukemia aged 4-9 years.
- To explore children's perceptions of illness causation.
- To analyze children's drawings to understand their self-perception within the family context during illness.
Main Methods:
- Utilized the same methodology as Lansdown and Benjamin (1985).
- Studied 21 children diagnosed with leukemia, aged 4-9 years.
- Included analysis of children's ideas about illness causes and their drawings of family members.
Main Results:
- Leukemic children's conceptual development regarding death was not significantly different overall from healthy children.
- Some differences in the content of death concepts were observed between leukemic and healthy children.
- The notion of immanent justice was uncommon as a perceived cause of illness; drawings suggested feelings of isolation in sick children.
Conclusions:
- Children with leukemia demonstrate resilience in conceptualizing death, mirroring healthy peers.
- Illness perceptions and feelings of isolation require attention in pediatric care.
- Further research into the psychosocial impact of leukemia on children's development is warranted.
Abstract:
In 1985 Lansdown and Benjamin published a study on the development of the concept of death in healthy children. The study reported here uses the same methodology but reports on the concepts of death of 21 children with leukaemia between 4 and 9 years of age. The leukaemic children's conceptual development was not overall significantly different from that of the healthy children although there were some differences in content. Two further areas were studied. The first was children's ideas about the causes of illness, in which the widely postulated notion of immanent justice was not found to be common. The second was an analysis of drawings of children's families which suggested that sick children perceive themselves to be isolated in hospital.