Background:

Cancer in adolescence has a significant impact on psychological and physical development, and hair loss is a major cause of anxiety and stress.

Objectives:

To identify emotional reactions to hair loss in adolescents with cancer, the most frequently used coping strategies, and those perceived as most effective; to analyze the relationship between emotional reactions and the strategies used and between demographic/clinical variables and emotional reactions, strategies used, and their efficacy.

Methodology:

Quantitative, cross-sectional, descriptive-correlational study with a sample of 30 adolescents.

Results:

Hair loss is a large/emergency problem, and sadness/crying and fear/irritability are emotions that best describe the adolescents’ reactions. The results also show the most frequently used strategies, those perceived as most effective, and the relationships between emotional reactions and coping strategies used and between demographic variables, emotional reactions, and strategies.

Conclusion:

The knowledge of these adolescents’ reactions to hair loss and their coping strategies is essential for a more targeted nursing practice.

        · abstract in Portuguese | Spanish     · text in Portuguese     · Portuguese ( pdf )