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The Role of Friends in Supporting Young People With Cancer: A Scoping Review

Peers play a crucial role in supporting wellbeing and psychosocial development for young people aged 12-25. However, a cancer experience often leads to challenges maintaining friendships. There have been no prior attempts to map or synthesise available research or resources on support specifically from friends for young people with cancer, limiting the capacity to draw conclusions or determine next steps for how to best support young people with cancer. This review aims to address this gap by mapping and synthesising the available literature and resources.

Citation:
Sampson LR, McDonald FEJ, O. Mancini V, M. McEvoy P, L. Finlay-Jones A. The Role of Friends in Supporting Young People With Cancer: A Scoping Review. Psycho-Oncology. 2025;34(2).

Keywords:
Adolescent; cancer; friends; neoplasm; psycho‐oncology; review; social support.

Abstract:
Peers play a crucial role in supporting wellbeing and psychosocial development for young people aged 12-25. However, a cancer experience often leads to challenges maintaining friendships. There have been no prior attempts to map or synthesise available research or resources on support specifically from friends for young people with cancer, limiting the capacity to draw conclusions or determine next steps for how to best support young people with cancer. This review aims to address this gap by mapping and synthesising the available literature and resources.