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Social information processing in survivors of pediatric brain tumors
Hailey M Zwicker1,2, Courtney Tromburg1,3,4,5, Heide Adham1,2
1Hematology, Oncology, Transplant Program, Alberta Children's Hospital, Calgary, AB, Canada.
Insights
Pediatric brain tumor (BT) survivors show deficits in emotion perception, particularly those treated with radiation. Early screening and interventions are crucial for improving social well-being in these survivors.
Area of Science:
- Neuroscience
- Developmental Psychology
- Pediatric Oncology
Background:
- Pediatric brain tumor (BT) survivors face long-term social deficits impacting daily life.
- Affective processing in these survivors is underexplored.
- Understanding social affective processing is key to addressing survivor challenges.
Purpose of the Study:
- Investigate social affective processing in pediatric brain tumor survivors compared to healthy children (HC).
- Identify clinical and sociodemographic factors associated with affective processing deficits.
- Explore the mediating role of cognitive-executive function in these relationships.
Main Methods:
- Compared 33 BT survivors and 35 HC using behavioral assessments and questionnaires.
- Assessed emotion perception, recognition, theory of mind, executive function, and inattention.
- Utilized Mann-Whitney U tests, correlations, and linear regression for analysis.
Main Results:
- BT survivors performed significantly worse on emotion perception than HC.
- Radiation therapy was associated with poorer emotion perception.
- Radiation was also linked to higher inattention scores; time since diagnosis was not a significant factor.
Conclusions:
- Emotion perception is compromised in pediatric brain tumor survivors, especially those who received radiation.
- These findings suggest affective mechanisms underlying social deficits.
- Highlight the need for early screening and targeted interventions to improve social well-being.
Introduction:
Survivors of pediatric brain tumors (BT) experience significant, long-term adverse treatment-related effects, such as social deficits-which can impact academic achievement, quality of life, and daily adaptive functioning. Affective processing remains underexplored. This study investigated social affective processing in survivors compared to healthy children (HC), identified clinical and sociodemographic factors that may be related to affective processing, and explored whether cognitive-executive function mediates these relationships.
Methods:
Survivors (N = 33, 54.5% female, mean [SD] age = 13.94 [3.28] years) and HC (N = 35, 48.6% female, age = 11.61 [2.96] years) completed behavioral assessments and questionnaires examining affective processing (emotion perception, emotion recognition, and theory of mind), cognitive-executive processes (executive function and inattention), and sociodemographic information (sex, income, parent education, and parent age). Mann-Whitney U compared social affective processing between survivors and HC. Correlations and linear regression examined relationships between predictors of interest and affective processing.
Results:
Survivors performed worse than HC on emotion perception (Z = -2.13, p = .033), but not other social affective tasks. Regression analysis revealed that receiving radiation was associated with poorer emotion perception (t = -3.45, p = .002) and higher inattention scores (t = 2.48, p = .020) while greater time since diagnosis was not.
Discussion:
Emotion perception is a key component of social information processing and appears compromised in BT survivors, especially those who received radiation therapy, compared to HC.
Implications For Cancer Survivors:
These novel findings highlight potential affective mechanisms underlying social deficits in BT survivors and underscore the need for early screening and targeted interventions to enhance their social well-being.
