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Resilience-Enhancing Factors among Youth with Cancer: A Systematic Review
  • Sydney Sumrall,
  • Nour Al Ghriwati,
  • Marcia Winter
Sydney Sumrall
Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Psychology
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Nour Al Ghriwati
National Cancer Institute Frederick
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Marcia Winter
Virginia Commonwealth University Department of Psychology

Corresponding Author:[email protected]

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Abstract

Although pediatric cancer is often considered a traumatic event, there is significant variability in youth psychosocial outcomes. Many children report coping well and they do not differ from their peers on indices of psychopathology. Understanding what makes children with cancer resilient is vital to supporting those at risk. Therefore, the goal of this systematic review was to identify factors associated with increased resilience following a pediatric cancer diagnosis. A systematic search of four databases (PubMed, PsycINFO, ProQuest, and Academic Search Complete) resulted in 1356 unique records, of which 40 met inclusion criteria. Resilience-enhancing factors included family cohesion, strong parent-child relationships, and social support as well as youths’ coping strategies, positive attitudes toward illness, optimism, hope, and ego-resilience. The factors identified are potentially malleable and thus could contribute to the development of strengths-based psychosocial interventions. Future studies would benefit from person-based or multilevel analyses and prospective designs.