Social participation of school‐aged survivors of pediatric brain tumors: A daily diary report

Abstract

BackgroundDifficulties with social functioning are common among survivors of pediatric brain tumors. Social participation is an understudied measure of social functioning that is associated with emotional health across the lifespan. This paper uses a diary method to assess the social participation of survivors of pediatric brain tumors in middle childhood.ProcedureSurvivors of pediatric brain tumors (N = 47; age 10.6 ± 1.4 years; 51.1% male, 89.4% White) who were 5.3 (SD = 2.4, range: 2–9.9) years post therapy completed a daily diary assessment of social interaction (5–7 days) and an objective measure of facial affect recognition. The participant's caregiver completed the NIH Toolbox Emotion Measures and a background information questionnaire.ResultsOverall, frequency and quality of reported social interactions were low for survivors, with a large subset of survivors (n = 16, 34%) endorsing fewer than 10 social interactions over the course of a typical school week, and almost half of parents (48.9%) reporting that their child participates in zero social activities outside of school during a typical week. Participants engaged in more positive social participation exhibited stronger social skills (facial affect recognition (F(2,44) = 4.85, p < .05).ConclusionsSchool‐aged survivors of pediatric brain tumors seemed to be infrequently engaged in social participation and quality interaction with peers. More specifically, the interactions most commonly reported on the diary assessment are not indicative of friendship development and maintenance. Survivors of pediatric brain tumors would likely benefit from interventions designed to increase quality time spent with peers.

Social impairment in survivors of pediatric brain tumors via reduced social attention and emotion‐specific facial expression recognition

“…7 Moreover, social information processing-and more specifically, underlying social affective functions-influences social behavior and social adjustment. 14,15 Previous research with SPBT has focused on social attention and face processing as predictors of social impairments, 17,[20][21][22] less and worse peer interactions, 18 and fewer friendships. 23 Taken together, these findings provide a more nuanced picture of the interplay between components of key social affective functions (i.e., social attention and FER) and social impairment in SPBT.…”

“…17 Evidence indicates that while the frequency and quality of peer interactions are generally low among SPBT, survivors with more positive social experiences demonstrate superior facial expression recognition (FER) abilities. 18 Associations between social attention, FER, and social behaviors have been investigated in children with developmental disorders, namely autism. 19 Research specific to SPBT revealed similar deficits in social attention 16 and FER.…”

White matter connectivity and social functioning in survivors of pediatric brain tumor

“…Survivors of pediatric brain tumor (SPBT) experience late effects across many domains [1,2] that pose challenges as they navigate their social milieu [3]. SPBT experience social connectedness difficulties, such as fewer friends and social interactions compared to siblings and other childhood cancer survivors [4,5].…”