Behavioral Science Committee
The mission of the BSC is to improve the lives and outcomes of children
with cancer and their families through research and dissemination of
empirically supported knowledge. The BSC recognizes that children with
cancer and their families have unique needs requiring targeted
scientific investigation and clinical implementation. The committee also
seeks to educate professional and lay communities to promote better
understanding and care of children with cancer and their families.
Comprised largely of psychologists and neuropsychologists, the BSC
enjoys a diverse membership that includes social workers, nurses,
physicians, and clinical research associates. These interdisciplinary
collaborations, and the extensive training that psychologists and
neuropsychologists receive in research design and outcome measurement,
allow the BSC to lead and contribute meaningfully to the planning and
conduct of QOL, behavioral and neurocognitive studies, and the
development, implementation and dissemination of behavioral science
interventions. Importantly, BSC members contribute perspectives of
behavioral health researchers and clinicians who work with children with
cancer, and their families, to discussions of COG practices including
informed consent, return of research results, empirically supported
interventions, and management of late effects. BSC members collaborate
in empirical research within COG on behavioral science interventions
that are both child- (pharmacological and/or behavioral) and
systems-directed (family, school, health care providers).
COG offers advantages for conducting collaborative research in pediatric
oncology. Examining behavioral science outcomes in the setting of
clinical trials is essential to help determine the differential impact
of new chemotherapy agents, varied treatment regimens, and therapy
reduction on behavioral health outcomes. Because most pediatric cancers
are rare, cooperative group research allows for large, diverse, and
representative sample sizes to be statistically powered to answer
research questions using homogeneous samples. It also provides the
opportunity to examine risk and protective factors beyond what is
possible in single institution studies.