AI Insight
This cross-sectional study of 50 children aged 8-18 years with solid tumors in Turkey found that 56% were at high risk for anxiety and 16% showed clinically significant depressive symptoms. Girls demonstrated better emotional functioning than boys, and lower maternal education was associated with increased depressive symptoms. The study used validated psychological assessment tools administered by child psychiatry specialists to evaluate mental health and quality of life in this pediatric oncology population.
Why it matters
The findings highlight the substantial psychological burden experienced by children undergoing cancer treatment and suggest that routine mental health screening could identify those needing additional support. The association between maternal education and child depression indicates that family-centered interventions should consider sociodemographic factors when designing psychosocial care programs.
Understand the Science
BackgroundChildren with solid tumors experience prolonged treatment, repeated hospital visits, and psychosocial stressors. This exploratory single-center cross-sectional study evaluated anxiety symptoms, depressive symptoms, and health-related quality of life in children with solid tumors and examined their associations with selected sociodemographic, clinical, school functioning, and social functioning variables.MethodsFifty children aged 8–18 years with solid tumors were evaluated at a tertiary pediatric hematology-oncology center in Türkiye between August 2024 and August 2025. Validated Turkish versions of the Children’s Depression Inventory (CDI), Screen for Child Anxiety Related Emotional Disorders (SCARED), Revised Child Anxiety and Depression Scale–Child Version (RCADS-CV), and Pediatric Quality of Life Inventory (PedsQL) were administered by a child and adolescent psychiatry specialist. The primary outcome was the SCARED total score. Sociodemographic and clinical variables were recorded.ResultsThe median age was 13 years. Clinically significant depressive symptoms (CDI ≥ 19) were detected in 16% of patients, and high anxiety risk (SCARED ≥25) in 56%. Median RCADS-CV total anxiety and depression scores were 42.0 and 44.5, respectively. Girls had higher PedsQL emotional functioning scores than boys (p < 0.001), whereas school functioning did not differ significantly between age groups (p = 0.124). In exploratory analyses, lower maternal education was associated with a higher likelihood of clinically significant depressive symptoms (Spearman's rho = −0.383, p = 0.006).ConclusionChildren with solid tumors showed a substantial burden of anxiety risk and depressive symptoms. Standardized psychosocial assessment may help identify children requiring emotional support and guide individualized, family-centered interventions. Larger longitudinal multicenter studies are needed to validate these exploratory findings.