Examining the Psychological Resilience of Adolescents with Leukemia: A Comparative Study

Aim: This descriptive and comparativeresearch was conducted to determine the level of psychological resilience ofadolescents diagnosed with leukemia.

Method: The sample research group comprisedof eighty adolescents in the 15-18 age group who have leukemia in pediatrichematology outpatient clinics. The sample comparison group comprised of eightyhealthy adolescents in the 15-18 age group who were students from years 9, 10,11, and 12th in a high school. Data was collected using a socio-demographicquestionnaire and the California Healthy Kids Survey Resilience and YouthDevelopment Module High School Questionnaire form. The Mann-Whitney U Test,Kruskal Wallis variance analysis, homogeneity test (Levene), and Ki kare Testwere used to evaluate the data.

Results: It was seen that there were nosignificant differences between the psychological resilience of adolescentswith leukemia and healthy adolescents (p>0.05) Females were observed to havehigher levels of psychological resilience than males in the research group. Alower level of psychological resilience was identified in adolescents from theresearch group who did not receive psychological support during the illnesscompared with those who received psychological support (p<0.05). Thesub-factor point average of caring relationships and high expectations atschool were higher in the research group, whereas the sub-factor point averageof goals and aspirations were higher in the healthy adolescents (p<0.05).

Conclusion: As a result, it was suggestedthat preventive mental health services should be planned and implemented todevelop resilience levels and protective relationships provided by the school,friends, family and society should be supported.

Cite this article as: Pars, H. veÇavuşoğlu, H. (2019). Examining the resilience of adolescents with leukemia.FNJN Florence Nightingale Journal of Nursing, 27(2): 104-118.