Central nervous system (CNS) tumors and their treatment can have long-term effects on various aspects of functioning in children and adolescents, including emotional and behavioral functioning. This study examined emotional and behavioral difficulties in children and adolescents following a diagnosis of a CNS tumor. The study included 83 children and adolescents aged 6 to 18 years who were treated at the Clinical Department of the Pediatric Hematology and Oncology of the Division of Pediatrics, University Medical Center Ljubljana, between 2018 and 2026. Emotional and behavioral difficulties were assessed using parent ratings on the Child Behavior Checklist for Ages 6–18 (CBCL/6–18) and, for a subsample, teacher ratings on the Teacher's Report Form for Ages 6-18 (TRF/6–18). The results indicated that the majority of children and adolescents scored within the normative range across all scales, with the largest proportion of clinically significant scores found for internalizing problems. Among the syndrome scales, the highest mean T-scores were found for Withdrawn/Depressed, Social Problems, Somatic Complaints, and Attention Problems. Internalizing problems were statistically significantly more pronounced than externalizing problems. There were no statistically significant differences between parent and teacher ratings on most scales. Attention Problems were the only domain in which the difference remained statistically significant after adjusting for multiple comparisons, with teachers rating these problems as more pronounced than parents did. There were no statistically significant differences in the severity of the examined difficulties between children with infratentorial and supratentorial tumors. The study contributes to a more comprehensive insight into the emotional and behavioral difficulties experienced by children and adolescents during the follow-up period after a diagnosis of a CNS tumor and emphasizes the importance of identifying and monitoring these difficulties as part of long-term care.
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