Risk Factors Associated with Long-Term Social and Behavioral Problems Among Children with Brain Tumors

Social competence in childhood brain tumor survivors: a comprehensive review

“…In Mabbott and colleagues' [20] retrospective study, CBCL social adjustment was found to have significantly decreased over a median follow-up period of 4.17 years from diagnosis. In Kullgren and colleagues' [37] longitudinal study, low CBCL social adjustment was found at 1 to 2 years post-diagnosis and these scores were predictive of lower CBCL social adjustment scores 3 to 4 years later. For self-reported social adjustment, no significant differences were found between survivors and population norms when time since diagnosis was 3.66 years [19].…”

“…Kullgren et al [37] and Mabbott et al [20] found no relation between age at diagnosis and social adjustment. Aarsen and colleagues [27] found survivors with a diagnosis in adolescence reported lower social adjustment based on a HRQL measure compared with younger survivors.…”

“…Disease/treatment factors Where assessed, no relationship has been found between social competency outcomes with tumor type or tumor site [30,37]. Among a population of craniopharyngioma survivors, tumor size did not appear to effect social adjustment outcomes [22].…”

“…Children with brain tumors who do not receive chemotherapy, on the other hand, are more likely to have smaller volume tumors and are more likely to not to receive radiation [39]. Taking this into account, Kullgren et al [37] examined the effects of having multiple treatments (i.e., surgery and radiation, chemotherapy and radiation, or surgery and chemotherapy) and found that this combined variable was also likely to predict difficulty with social adjustment 3 to 4 years following diagnosis. Disease recurrence was consistently associated with decreased social adjustment compared with survivors without disease recurrence according to Aarsen et al [27] and Sands et al [22].…”

“…Age at diagnosis was considered a variable of interest in five of the reviewed studies with contradicting evidence [20,21,23,27,37]. Kullgren et al [37] and Mabbott et al [20] found no relation between age at diagnosis and social adjustment.…”