Children in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: mental health, psychosocial adjustment and parental functioning T. REINFJELL, phd, clinical psychologist, Department of Neuroscience (INM), Regional Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, G.E. LOFSTAD, phd student, clinical psychologist, Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, H.M. NORDAHL, phd, professor in clinical psychology, Department of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, A. VIKAN, phd, professor in clinical psychology, Depart- ment of Psychology, Norwegian University of Science and Technology, Trondheim, & T.H. DISETH, phd, profes- sor in psychiatry, Section of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, Department of Paediatrics, Rikshospitalet- Radiumhospitalet University Hospital, Oslo, Norway REINFJELL T., LOFSTAD G.E., NORDAHL H.M., VIKAN A. & DISETH T.H. (2009) European Journal of Cancer Care 18, 364–370 Children in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia: mental health, psychosocial adjustment and parental functioning The objective of this study is to assess the mental health and psychosocial adjustment of children in remission from acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL), and parental functioning compared to healthy controls. A cross- sectional study of 40 children treated for ALL (mean age 11.8 years, range 8.5–15.4) and healthy controls (n = 42) (mean age 11.8 years, range 8.11–15.0) were assessed by the Child Behaviour Checklist (CBCL), the Youth Self-Report (YSR) and the Strength and Difficulties Questionnaire (SDQ). The parent’s own mental health was assessed by the General Health Questionnaire (GHQ-30). Children treated for ALL showed on average significantly more symptoms as measured by the CBCL Total Behaviour Score for mother’s report (P = 0.005), and for father’s report (P = 0.004) compared with healthy children. Fathers reported more anxiety (P = 0.03) and depression (P = 0.02) as measured by the GHQ-30 compared with healthy controls. Children in remission from ALL showed on average significantly more problems regarding mental health and psychosocial adjustment, as reported by their parents, compared with healthy controls. Adequate rehabilitation and follow-up programmes should be implemented for children in remission from ALL. The results indicate the need to pay attention to the mental health of fathers during the rehabilitation phase. Keywords: paediatrics, mental health, psychosocial adjustment, children, parents. INTRODUCTION Over the last decades, survival rates of children treated for acute lymphoblastic leukaemia (ALL) have increased dra- matically. New treatments involving a combination of chemotherapy and radiotherapy have resulted in signifi- cant survival improvements, with an approximate 80% Correspondence address: Trude Reinfjell, Department of Neuroscience (INM), Regional Centre for Child and Adolescent Mental Health, Norwe- gian University of Science and Technology (NTNU), N-7491, Trondheim, Norway (e-mail: trude.reinfjell@ntnu.no). Accepted 24 March 2008 DOI: 10.1111/j.1365-2354.2008.00954.x European Journal of Cancer Care, 2009, 18, 364–370 Original article © 2009 The Authors Journal compilation © 2009 Blackwell Publishing Ltd