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The effects of the Make a Wish intervention on psychiatric symptoms and health-related quality of life of children with cancer: a randomised controlled trial

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Abstract

Objective

Children with life-threatening medical conditions frequently undergo invasive medical procedures that may elicit anxiety and distress. However, there are few empirically validated interventions that reduce mental health symptoms and increase the resilience of children during the acute stages of illness. This study aimed to evaluate the efficacy of the Make a Wish intervention for children with life-threatening cancer.

Methods

The design was a wait-list-controlled trial with two parallel groups. Sixty-six children aged 5–12 with an initial diagnosis of life-threatening cancer were identified and randomly assigned to the Make a Wish intervention (n = 32) or a wait-list control group (n = 34). Children completed measures of psychiatric and health-related symptoms, positive and negative affect, hope, and optimism pre-intervention and post-intervention. After baseline data collection, children were interviewed and made an authentic wish that they wanted to come true. These wishes were made possible 5–6 months after baseline data collection, to fuel anticipation and excitement over the wish-fulfillment event. The post-intervention assessment point was 5 weeks after wish fulfillment (approximately 7 months after baseline data collection).

Results

Children in the intervention group exhibited a significant reduction in general distress (d = 0.54), depression (d = 0.70), and anxiety symptoms (d = 0.41), improved health-related quality of life (d = 0.59), hope (d = 0.71), and positive affect (d = 0.80) compared to decrease in positive affect and no significant changes in the other measures in the control group.

Conclusions

These findings emphasize the role of hope and positive emotions in fostering the well-being of children who suffer from serious illnesses.

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Acknowledgments

We would like to thank the families and the children who found the time and energy to participate in this study. We would also like to express our deepest gratitude to Denise Bar Aharon, Dorit Dovrat, and the Make a Wish Israel team for their help in this effort.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Baruch Ivcher School of Psychology, Interdisciplinary Center (IDC) Herzliya, P.O. Box 167, 46150, Herzliya, Israel

    Anat Shoshani & Keren Mifano

  2. Cancer Center, University of Arizona, 1515 N. Campbell Ave., P.O. Box 245024, Tucson, AZ, USA

    Johanna Czamanski-Cohen

Authors
  1. Anat Shoshani
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  2. Keren Mifano
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Correspondence to Anat Shoshani.

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The authors declare that they have no conflict of interest.

Ethical approval

All procedures performed in studies involving human participants were in accordance with the ethical standards of the institutional and/or national research committee and with the 1964 Helsinki Declaration and its later amendments or comparable ethical standards.

Informed consent

Informed consent was obtained from all individual participants included in the study.

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Shoshani, A., Mifano, K. & Czamanski-Cohen, J. The effects of the Make a Wish intervention on psychiatric symptoms and health-related quality of life of children with cancer: a randomised controlled trial. Qual Life Res 25, 1209–1218 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11136-015-1148-7

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