Anxiety, Aggression and Self-Esteem Analysis through Pictures in Children with Cancer*

Aim: The primary purpose of this study is to identify a cancer patient’s anxiety, aggression and self esteem etc., feelings that might arise from hospitalization, through “home” themed drawing of the children. The second aim of this research is to make sure that the drawing method is used by pediatric nurses when collecting data from children.

Method: The study was conducted as a case-control study at pediatric hematology and oncology clinics of a university hospital between February-June 2010. 19 children between the ages of 4-7, having primary diagnosis of cancer, treated with chemotherapy, and 20 healthy children at the same age group with similar socio-demographic characteristics who had never been hospitalized before, total 39 children were included for the sampling of the study. Children were given drawing paper and 12 color crayons and asked to draw whatever comes to their mind when they think of the word “home”. A lecturer from Department of Preschool Education and a researcher educated on drawing analysis interpreted the drawings of children. Comments on the pictures were divided into 4 as the following; anxiety, aggression, self-esteem, color choice.

Results: No statistically signifi cant difference was found between the groups divided in accordance with age, sex, and income status. When drawings of children with cancer and healthy children were reviewed; it was determined that anxiety and aggression of the children with cancer and subjected to long periods of treatment were higher than healthy children of the same age group and that there are statistical differences between the groups. When the sick and healthy groups are compared in terms of self esteem, it is striking that self-esteem of the children with cancer was low.

Conclusion: Various methods assessing the feelings of children, such as anxiety, aggression, are being used recently for several studies. Although it is not a method frequently preferred, we can understand feelings, emotional status of children by looking at their drawings. Drawing is like a game for the children. It is a method where they can clearly express themselves. When we review these results, we see that it is possible to evaluate emotional status of children and the application is easy, enjoyable.