Psychosocial interventions can significantly reduce pain and anxiety for children undergoing cancer treatment, new Griffith University research has found.
Dr Karin Plummer from Griffith’s School of Nursing and Midwifery investigated the efficacy of hypnosis, distraction techniques, virtual reality and mindfulness for children experiencing cancer pain.
Current evidence was largely focused on painful procedures such as needle insertions and lumbar punctures.
Dr Plummer conducted a systematic review and meta-analysis of 42 randomised controlled trials involving more than 2,000 children undergoing cancer treatment.
The studies were conducted across 16 countries and published between 1982 and 2025.
“Despite major advances in cancer survival, children with cancer continue to experience significant pain from treatments, procedures, and the broader impacts of the disease,” Dr Plummer said.
“The study found psychosocial interventions have an important role alongside medicines as part of comprehensive pain care for children with cancer.
“The most effective techniques for pain were hypnosis, distraction strategies, and mind-body approaches.
“Whereas virtual reality, other technology-based interventions, hypnosis and distraction showed benefits for pain-related anxiety.”
Psychosocial interventions could help children change how they experienced and responded to pain, including the anxiety, fear and distress which could make pain feel worse.
While they did not remove the medical cause of pain or replace medications, the findings supported their use as an important component of multimodal pain management and more holistic, child-centred cancer care.
Senior author Associate Professor Maria McCarthy from the Murdoch Children’s Research Institute (MCRI) said: “This important review provides a strong foundation for research aimed at improving supportive care for children with cancer.”
“It will help guide the existing collaboration between Dr Karin Plummer, the MCRI and The Royal Children’s Hospital Melbourne, with the evidence informing the development of new interventions designed to reduce pain and distress and improve outcomes for children and their families.
“This important review will help shape the next stage of research focused on improving the care and wellbeing of children with cancer.
“These findings will support the development of innovative approaches to reducing pain and distress and ensuring children and families receive the best possible care throughout their cancer journey.
“Despite advances in cancer treatment, many children continue to experience pain and distress throughout their cancer journey.
“By bringing together the available evidence, it provides a strong foundation for improving care and ensuring children and families receive the support they need during treatment.”
Parent Anneke Vanderham has experienced this first-hand.
“As a parent of a child who has undergone cancer treatment, I know dealing with the pain that comes with this treatment becomes a challenge that you must rise to everyday, and one which often leaves you feeling helpless,” she said.
“While pharmaceutical pain interventions are of course, invaluable, they have their limits.
“Psychosocial interventions can allow for a less traumatic overall experience for the children and the families supporting them.
“This review gives insight that will assist with the implementation of these interventions, providing hope in place of the helplessness for the future families who will be confronted with the issues our family faced.”
Dr Plummer hoped to see psychosocial interventions embedded in routine paediatric oncology care.
“The health industry should move away from viewing psychosocial interventions as optional extras and should view them as a core part of evidence-based paediatric cancer pain management, alongside medicines and other supportive care strategies,” she said.
The paper ‘Psychosocial interventions for reducing pain and pain-related distress in infants, children, and adolescents undergoing cancer treatment: a systematic review and meta-analysis of randomised controlled trials’ has been published in Pain.
3: Good Health and Well-being
