This Article Full Text (PDF) References Alert me when this article is cited Alert me if a correction is posted Citation Map Services Email this article to a friend Similar articles in this journal Similar articles in PubMed Alert me to new issues of the journal Add to Saved Citations Download to citation manager Request Permissions Request Reprints Add to My Marked Citations Citing Articles Citing Articles via Google Scholar Citing Articles via Scopus Google Scholar Articles by Dowling, J. S. Articles by Gregory, R. L. Search for Related Content PubMed PubMed Citation Articles by Dowling, J. S. Articles by Gregory, R. L. Pubmed/NCBI databases Medline Plus Health Information Stress Social Bookmarking                         What's this?

Sense of Humor, Childhood Cancer Stressors, and Outcomes of Psychosocial Adjustment, Immune Function, and Infection

University of Massachusetts Lowell Department of Nursing, 3 Solomont Way, Suite 2 Lowell, MA 01854-5126

Marilyn Hockenberry, PhD, RN-CS, PNP, FAAN

Baylor College of Medicine, Houston TX

Richard L. Gregory, PhD

Indiana University Schools of Dentistry and Medicine, Indianapolis IN

The diagnosis, treatment, and side effects of childhood cancer have been described as extremely stressful experiences in the life of a child. Anecdotally, children report that a sense of humor helps them cope with the daily experiences of living with cancer; however, no research has examined sense of humor and childhood cancer stressors. This study investigated the effect of sense of humor on the relationship between cancer stressors and children’s psychosocial adjustment to cancer, immune function, and infection using Lazarus and Folkman’s theory of stress, appraisal, and coping. A direct relationship was observed between sense of humor and psychosocial adjustment to cancer, such that children with a high sense of humor had greater psychological adjustment, regardless of the amount of cancer stressors. A moderating effect was observed for incidence of infection. As childhood cancer stressors increase, children with high coping humor scores reported fewer incidences of infection than low scorers.

Key Words: sense of humor • stress • children • cancer

Journal of Pediatric Oncology Nursing, Vol. 20, No. 6, 271-292 (2003)
DOI: 10.1177/1043454203254046


CiteULike    Complore    Connotea    Del.icio.us    Digg    Reddit    Technorati    Twitter    What's this?