Category 3.2: trying to avoid damage
Children and adolescents with cancer will use various coping
strategies to deal with their illness, such as wearing a wig or
hat to cover hair loss. They seek understanding about how to
deal with and hide changes in their appearance, as well as
supporting themselves to deal with the negative social
context. Cheng et al. (2000) reported that after experiencing
the losses caused by cancer, children and adolescents use
coping strategies that enable them to have some control over
their lives. Many of the studies (Cheng et al., 2000; Larouche
& Chin-Peuckert, 2006; McCaffrey, 2006; Williamson et al.,
2010) describe adolescents with cancer trying to conceal their
negative body image in order to maintain normality.They will
wear a wig to hide their sparse hair volume in the hope that
other people will not show concern over their change.