Psychosexual development of adolescent males after malignancies in childhood.

We studied psychosexual development in 28 adolescent males who had survived leukemia and compared it with that in 25 adolescent males who had survived other malignancies in childhood. A clinical semistructured psychiatric interview was used to form 8 criteria of psychosexual development. Sexual identity was also assessed using a psychological test. By every criterion, development was more disturbed in patients who had survived leukemia. Attitudes toward adult-type genital sexuality, contact ability with the opposite sex, and the developmental level of sexuality were most significantly affected.