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

Sep 22, 2026

Meaning making is a key determinant of psychosocial adjustment in adult oncology, yet evidence on how school-aged children with cancer construct meaning is limited. This scoping review synthesizes child reports (ages 6–12) and tests findings against Park’s model, also identifying dimensions not captured by it. Results show meaning making as a dynamic, developmentally grounded, relational process shaped across the cancer trajectory by children, caregivers, clinicians, and sociocultural contexts, with limited evidence on purpose and explicit meaning.

LanguageEnglish

CategoryHealthcare

FormatPDF

Pages29

Reading Time1 h 13 min

AccessFree to download

Background

Rationale and need for child-focused meaning making

Aims

Synthesize evidence and evaluate Park’s model

Methods

PRISMA-ScR scoping review and coding approach

Results

Themes and processes of meaning making

Conclusions

Implications for psychosocial care and communication

Psycho‐Oncology Not Too Young to Understand: Meaning Making From the Perspectives of School‐Aged Children With Cancer—AScoping Review Yixuan Wang1 | Cheng Jin2 | Jennifer Currin‐McCulloch1 | David MacPhee3,4 | Abby R. Rosenberg5,6,7 | Yijia Yang3 | Zhenrong Su8 | Peichen Liu9 | Jiameng Wang10 | Sydney Pryor11 1School of Social Work, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA | 2School of Social Work, University of Minnesota, Minneapolis, Minnesota, USA | 3Department of Human Development and Family Studies, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA | 4Prevention Research Center, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA | 5Department of Supportive Oncology, Dana‐Farber Cancer Institute, Boston, Massachusetts, USA | 6Department of Pediatrics, Boston Children's Hospital, Boston, Massachusetts, USA | 7Department of Pediatrics, Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA | 8School of Social Work, University of Connecticut, Hartford, Connecticut, USA | 9Suzanne Dworak‐Peck School of Social Work, University of Southern California, Los Angeles, California, USA | 10School of Social Research, Renmin University of China, Beijing, China | 11Department of Psychology, Colorado State University, Fort Collins, Colorado, USA Correspondence: Yixuan Wang ([yixuan.wang@colostate.edu](yixuan.wang@colostate.edu)) Received: 8 July 2026 | Revised: 17 August 2026 | Accepted: 20 August 2026 Keywords: adaptation | cancer | child | meaning making | neoplasms | oncology | psychological ABSTRACT Background: Meaning 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. Aims: To 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. Methods: A 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. Results: Thirty‐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. Conclusions: School‐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. This is an open access article under the terms of the Creative Commons Attribution License, which permits use, distribution and reproduction in any medium, provided the original work is properly cited. © 2026 The Author(s) . Psycho‐Oncology published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd. Psycho‐Oncology, 2026; 35:e70592 1 of 29 [https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.70592](https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.70592) 1

FAQs

What did the review aim to accomplish about meaning making in children with cancer?

The review synthesized evidence on meaning making among school-aged children with cancer and examined the findings through Park’s meaning-making model, while identifying dimensions not fully captured by the model.

How were studies selected and analyzed in the scoping review?

The review followed PRISMA-ScR guidance, searching four databases and reference lists for peer-reviewed studies with direct reports from children aged 6–12. Park’s model guided selection, extraction, and deductive coding, while inductive coding identified additional dimensions.

What themes described children’s meaning making across the cancer trajectory?

Children’s meaning making included global beliefs and developmental and healthcare-related goals, appraisals about threats to the self, normalcy, relationships, and the future, and multiple related processes (cognitive, emotional, socially informed, spiritual, experiential, and avoidance-related).

What do the authors conclude for clinical practice and support?

The review concludes that school-aged children actively construct meaning throughout the trajectory and recommends integrating interdisciplinary, child-centered, developmentally and culturally responsive support into psychosocial care, serious illness communication, and pediatric palliative care.

Sep 22, 2026

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