Investigation into the impact of technology-based motivation program applied to children following cancer diagnosis and their families: a randomized controlled study.

OBJECTIVE

To determine the effectiveness of the technology-based motivation program implemented with children with cancer diagnosis and their primary caregivers.

METHODS

A randomized controlled trial completed with 31 children aged between 9 and 18 being treated for cancer, and 31 primary caregivers. A 10-week “Technology-based Motivation Program” was applied to the intervention group, while the control group received routine care. The program consisted of breathing, progressive relaxation exercises, imagery practices and stories for children. Primary caregivers were provided with breathing and progressive relaxation exercises. ‘State/ Trait Anxiety Inventory for Children’, ‘Paediatric Quality of Life Inventory’, ‘Paediatric Cancer Coping Scale’, ‘State and Trait Anxiety Inventory’ and ‘Process Evaluation Forms’ were administered. Chi-square test, Fisher-Exact test, Independent Sample-t test, Mann–Whitney U test, Wilcoxon test, Pearson and Spearman correlation coefficients were used to evaluate the data.

RESULTS

At baseline, there were no statistically significant differences between the intervention and control groups in any of the scale scores, including children’s anxiety, coping skills, and quality of life, as well as primary caregivers’ anxiety levels ( > 0.05 for all comparisons). At the end of the program, State anxiety scores of the children in the intervention group were significantly lower (29.27 ± 8.13) than those of the control group (37.18 ± 9.01) ( < 0.05). Furthermore, the coping scores of the children in the intervention group were found to be significantly higher (80.20 ± 9.62) than those of the control group (67.56 ± 17.44) ( < 0.05). At the end of the program, the average state anxiety scores of primary caregivers in the intervention group (33.73 ± 12.30) were also significantly lower than those in the control group (53,31 ± 15,14) ( < 0.05). Similarly, the trait anxiety scores of primary caregivers in the intervention group (39.80 ± 9.43) were significantly lower than those of the control group (52,50 ± 16,57) ( < 0.05).

CONCLUSION

A technology-based motivation program implemented with children and their primary caregivers following a cancer diagnosis is effective in reducing anxiety, increasing quality of life, and coping.

REGISTRY OF CLINICAL TRIAL

Trials.gov Registration number: (NCT05982379||https://www.clinicaltrials.gov/). Date of registration: 01/08/2023.

SUPPLEMENTARY INFORMATION

The online version contains supplementary material available at 10.1186/s40359-025-03163-4.