The focus of this study was to explore children's evaluations of healthy peers and peers with cancer. A racially and ethnically diverse group of fourth‐ and fifth‐grade children (n = 109) viewed a story about a child engaged in a physically challenging rock climbing tower activity at camp. The way the child (healthy or with cancer) ascended and descended the climbing tower (independently or with assistance) was manipulated. Assessment from the participants included their evaluations of the climber (regarding peer acceptance and trait favorability) and their knowledge of cancer. Also, participants’ own behavioral difficulties were assessed by their parents. Results showed that when the climber was healthy, peer acceptance and bravery were higher when ascending independently compared to doing so with assistance. In contrast, the climber with cancer was accepted as a friend and deemed brave, regardless of climbing method. Results revealed that participants had high levels of knowledge about cancer and were likely to know that children with cancer can play outside if they saw just that in the story they heard. These findings suggest that presenting children with cancer engaging in authentic and destigmatizing activities can impact how they are perceived by their potential peers and thus could be an important component for school re‐entry programs.

中文翻译：

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你很勇敢，我会成为你的朋友：儿童对癌症同龄人的评价

这项研究的重点是探索儿童对健康同龄人和患有癌症的同龄人的评价。四，五年级儿童的种族和种族差异（n = 109）观看了一个关于一个儿童在营地从事身体挑战性攀岩塔活动的故事。操纵儿童（健康或患有癌症）上升和下降攀岩塔（独立地或在其帮助下）的方式。参与者的评估包括对攀岩者的评估（关于同伴的接受度和性格倾向）以及对癌症的了解。此外，参与者自己的行为困难由父母评估。结果表明，与自己进行协助相比，当攀登者健康时，独立攀登时同伴的接纳度和勇敢性更高。相比之下，无论采用哪种攀登方法，患有癌症的攀登者都被接受为朋友并被视为勇敢的。结果表明，参与者对癌症有很高的了解，并且如果他们只是在所听到的故事中看到癌症儿童，他们很可能知道癌症儿童可以在外面玩耍。这些发现表明，向患癌症的孩子展示真实的，带有侮辱性的活动可能会影响他们的潜在同龄人的看法，因此可能成为重返学校计划的重要组成部分。