Psychological adjustment outcomes among pediatric brain tumor survivors: A meta-analysis

Background Pediatric brain tumor survivors (PBTS) are at significant risk for psychological adjustment difficulties, including greater depressive and anxious symptomology. Systematic reviews have identified this heightened risk among youth with medical conditions, but these reviews have not been specific to PBTS. Therefore, the current study aimed to directly examine the psychological adjustment of PBTS as compared to healthy peers. Procedure A systematic review and meta-analysis was conducted using PubMed, PsychInfo, and Academic Search Premier databases. The search yielded 2833 articles, with 22 articles meeting inclusion criteria. Results A statistically significant overall medium effect size (Hedge'sg = 0.32) indicated that PBTS exhibited poorer overall psychological adjustment relative to healthy comparison groups. Studies that included younger children were associated with larger between-group differences. When evaluating specific outcomes, PBTS had relatively higher levels of depressive symptoms (Hedge'sg = 0.36), anxious symptoms (Hedge'sg = 0.11), and general distress (Hedge'sg = 0.22), but not more externalizing problems. Conclusions The present study confirmed that PBTS are indeed at greater risk for psychological adjustment difficulties relative to healthy comparison groups. These findings highlight the importance of psychosocial screening among this population. Given that depressive symptoms were the most elevated relative to healthy peers, investigation of such symptomatology among PBTS is particularly important.