Evidence map›Paper›PMID 42684070›Full record

ArticlePsycho-oncology2026

Not Too Young to Understand: Meaning Making From the Perspectives of School-Aged Children With Cancer-A Scoping Review.

Yixuan Wang, Cheng Jin, Jennifer Currin-McCulloch, David MacPhee, Abby R Rosenberg, Yijia Yang, Zhenrong Su, Peichen Liu, Jiameng Wang, Sydney Pryor

Abstract readScoping Review
PubMed Full text at PMC Publisher
In one paragraph

Article in Psycho-oncology, 2026. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Not yet cited in PubMed.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
0citing papers in PubMed
–field-weighted citation impact
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

0 citing papers in PubMed.

No citing paper in PubMed yet.

4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

10 authors.

Yixuan WangSchool of Social Work, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0007-1856-281X
Cheng JinSchool of Social Work, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0004-1111-2451
Jennifer Currin-McCullochSchool of Social Work, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7244-4239
David MacPheeDepartment of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2927-1387
Abby R RosenbergDepartment of Supportive Oncology, Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7608-607X
Yijia YangDepartment of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.
Zhenrong SuSchool of Social Work, University of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, USA.
Peichen LiuSuzanne Dworak-Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA.ORCID https://orcid.org/0009-0002-0686-1365
Jiameng WangSchool of Social Research, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China.
Sydney PryorDepartment of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA.

Funding

No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.

6 · The paper itself

Abstract

backgroundMeaning making is increasingly recognized as an important determinant of psychosocial adjustment in adult oncology. However, how school-aged children make meaning of cancer and how developmental, relational, and sociocultural influences shape this process remain insufficiently characterized, particularly because frameworks are largely derived from adult research and centered on intrapersonal processes.

aimsTo synthesize evidence on meaning making among school-aged children with cancer and examine these findings through Park's meaning-making model while identifying dimensions not fully captured by the model.

methodsA scoping review was conducted according to PRISMA-ScR guidelines. Four databases and reference lists were searched for peer-reviewed studies examining meaning making through direct reports from children aged 6-12 years with cancer. Park's meaning-making model informed study selection, data extraction, and deductive coding, while inductive coding identified dimensions not represented in the model.

resultsThirty-nine studies were included. Children's meaning making encompassed global beliefs and developmental and healthcare-related goals; appraisals of threats to the self, normalcy, relationships, and future; and cognitive, emotional, socially informed, spiritual, experiential, and avoidance-related processes. Meaning making emerged as a dynamic, developmentally grounded, and relational process shaped by caregivers, healthcare professionals, and sociocultural contexts across the cancer trajectory. Evidence regarding children's sense of meaning or purpose and meanings made was limited.

conclusionsSchool-aged children actively construct meaning throughout the cancer trajectory. Integrating interdisciplinary support for meaning making that is child-centered and developmentally and culturally responsive into psychosocial care, serious illness communication, and pediatric palliative care may strengthen children's participation, coping, and psychosocial-spiritual well-being.

Indexed as

Adaptation, PsychologicalNeoplasmsChildHumansadaptationcancerchildmeaning makingneoplasmsoncologypsychological

Identifiers

PMID42684070
PMCPMC13537027

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Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.