Despite continued progress in the medical management of many malignant diseases, the diagnosis of cancer, including melanoma, remains a difficult event in the lives of many patients and their families. Clinical impressions and research findings suggest that a diagnosis of melanoma has the potential to change all aspects of an individual's daily living from self-identity, body image, and perceived well-being, to family roles and relationships, career opportunities, friendships, and finances.^1,2 The distress evoked by such changes may have wide-ranging implications. Psychological distress has been associated with patient delay in seeking medical advice for melanoma, decreased adherence to treatment regimes, increased rates of melanoma recurrence and mortality, lower quality of life (QOL), increased medical costs, and reduced engagement in posttreatment skin cancer screening and preventive behaviors.^3-5 Thus, understanding the prevalence and correlates of psychological distress and developing interventions to reduce distress remain critical research and clinical endeavors.

A cluster, stratified randomized design was used to evaluate the impact of universal, indicated, and combined universal plus indicated cognitive- behavioral approaches to the prevention of depression among 13- to 15-year-olds initially reporting elevated symptoms of depression. None of the intervention approaches differed significantly from a no-intervention condition or from each other on changes in depressive symptoms, anxiety, externalizing problems, coping skills, and social adjustment. All high-symptom students, irrespective of condition, showed a significant decline in depressive symptoms and improvement in emotional well-being over time although they still demonstrated elevated levels of psychopathology compared with the general population of peers at 12-month follow-up. There were also no significant intervention effects for the universal intervention in comparison with no intervention for the total sample of students in those conditions.

Objective To review the results of any published research study examining the psychosocial functioning of children who have recently completed cancer treatment. Methods Five electronic databases were searched (from 1978 to 2008). Of 1,734 identified articles, 19 met all inclusion criteria. Four articles utilized a qualitative methodology, thirteen utilized a quantitative methodology, and two used mixed methods. Results Children may experience positive psychosocial outcomes on treatment completion, including high self-worth, good behavioral conduct, and improved mental health and social behavior. However, they may also experience significant negative outcomes, including lower levels of psychological well-being, mood, liveliness, self-esteem, and motor and physical functioning, as well as increased anxiety, problem behaviors, and sleeping difficulties. Conclusions Completing treatment can be a psychologically complex time for children as they wait to make the transition from “cancer patient” to long-term “cancer survivor.” Further high-quality research targeting the needs of these children is warranted.