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Open research questions in Family Support in Illness

176 gap statements mined from Family Support in Illness papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 1,545 papers on the topic — drawn mostly from each paper's own stated research gap, future-work, challenge and limitation notes, and its abstract. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one.

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What the literature leaves open

  • As most participants in this study had experienced paternal stroke, future research should explore maternal stroke.

    Children’s experiences following parental stroke: An interpretive phenomenological analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • No studies were identified that examined families' experiences of routine disease monitoring.

    Families living with metastatic breast cancer face complex and evolving psychosocial challenges, but family support interventions remain limited: a scoping review · 2026 · DOI

  • Further research could focus on evaluating the effectiveness of the caregiver coping resource. Research could also explore the development of resources for other pediatric illnesses.

    The Development and Co‐Production of a Caregiver Coping Resource for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Autoimmune Liver Disease · 2026 · DOI

  • There is a lack of resources focused on caregiver coping in pediatric IBD and AILD. Caregivers of children with IBD and/or AILD have known coping needs.

    The Development and Co‐Production of a Caregiver Coping Resource for Pediatric Inflammatory Bowel Disease and Autoimmune Liver Disease · 2026 · DOI

  • Healthcare professionals need to prioritize family-centered care and culturally responsive support systems in pediatric settings.

    Hope in the hallways: What helps children and parents heal together · 2026 · DOI

  • Future research should focus on developing and evaluating the effectiveness of age-appropriate interventions for pediatric patients and their families. Studies should explore the impact of family-centered care and culturally responsive support systems on clinical outcomes and patient satisfaction.

    Hope in the hallways: What helps children and parents heal together · 2026 · DOI

  • Families should openly discuss the condition with children, provide accurate information about the disease and actively challenge beliefs that contribute to stigma or discrimination. At the same time, caregivers should continue to integrate positive spiritual practices such as prayer, faith-based encouragement and emotional support with evidence-based medical care.

    CAREGIVER SUPPORT AND ACADEMIC PROGRESS AMONG LEARNERS WITH SICKLE CELL DISEASE IN THE FAKO DIVISION, SOUTH WEST REGION OF CAMEROON · 2026 · DOI

  • The study notes that the use of snowball sampling limits statistical generalizability and may introduce sampling bias. It also acknowledges the challenges of accessing demographically specific populations in the Indian context. The study highlights the need for supportive family dynamics and psychological resources for eldest daughters.

    Gender and relational dynamics in eldest child syndrome: an exploratory multidimensional study from India · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies the challenge of understanding early bereavement processes, which are often overlooked in the bereavement literature. The study highlights the challenge of providing disjointed bereavement support due to varying practices and guidelines across providers and institutions. The study notes the challenge of pediatric clinicians lacking training in the process and experience of grief and bereavement.

    Bereaved Parents’ Narratives of Their Child Who Died of Cancer: A Qualitative Study · 2026 · DOI

  • The bereavement literature often focuses on parents many years after the death, leaving a gap in understanding early bereavement processes. There is a lack of understanding of how parents choose to share their child's story and how it can inform the development of novel supportive interventions. Bereavement practices and guidelines vary across providers and institutions, leading to disjointed bereavement support.

    Bereaved Parents’ Narratives of Their Child Who Died of Cancer: A Qualitative Study · 2026 · DOI

  • The study aims to address this gap, but the specific research gap is not explicitly stated.

    The Dynamic Nature of Family Resilience Among Patients With Lung Cancer: A Qualitative Study · 2026 · DOI

  • The influence of motherhood on complex trauma among young mothers formerly in residential care remains unknown. Previous quantitative studies mostly pointed out the risks associated with early motherhood, and qualitative studies recognized those risks while mainly describing the positive aspects young mothers attributed to motherhood.

    Complex Trauma Evolution and the Influence of Motherhood: A Qualitative Exploration among Young Mothers Formerly in Residential Care Using Ideal-Type Analysis · 2026 · DOI

  • The current support systems for young carers are inadequate, with a reliance on families as primary caregivers. There is a lack of formal recognition and support for young carers, who are often overlooked in policy discussions. The study identifies a need for a more nuanced understanding of the complex dynamic between individual experience and sociocultural norms.

    The Invisible Frontline: Young Carers Battling Hardships in the Shadow of Familism · 2026 · DOI

  • The study identifies a gap in understanding which types of informational support are most beneficial for caregivers at the time of dementia diagnosis. It notes that many family members receive insufficient or inconsistent information regarding the condition and available support services.

    From Diagnosis to Daily Care: Impact of Early Informational Support on the Burden of Family Caregiving · 2026 · DOI

  • The study's findings may be limited by the use of a self-report questionnaire, which may be subject to biases and limitations.

    How Role Conflict Affects Parental Distress: A Path Model through Parental Guilt and Stress · 2026 · DOI

  • The study was not pre-registered. The participants of this study did not give written consent for their data to be shared publicly. The sample size is limited to 193 parents.

    How Role Conflict Affects Parental Distress: A Path Model through Parental Guilt and Stress · 2026 · DOI

  • Less is known about family functioning as a unit under the stress of parental cancer. Most research focuses on individual psychological outcomes, rather than family functioning. The increasing global cancer incidence highlights the need for more research on this topic.

    Navigating family life in the face of parental cancer: a qualitative study · 2026 · DOI

  • Among the various forms of help they provide, emotional support (ES) plays a central role—demanding strong emotional and psychological investment yet remaining underexplored during adolescence, a period of identity development and emotional vulnerability.

    Characteristics of Emotional Support Provided by Adolescent Young Carers: A Qualitative Exploratory Study · 2026 · DOI

  • The study highlights the need for universities to provide support for mental health and wellbeing. The study identifies a gap in the provision of healthcare services for international students. The study suggests that universities can only do so much to address stigma related to mental health.

    Postgraduate Psychology Students’ Perceptions of Mental Wellbeing and Mental Health Literacy: A Preliminary Mixed-Method Case Study · 2025 · DOI

  • The study offers several recommendations for different stakeholders. Eldest siblings are encouraged to practice self-care, seek support when needed, and openly express their emotions about their responsibilities within the family.

    The Role of Ate and Kuya: Eldest Siblings' Responsibilities and Emotional Experiences among Mindanao State University-Sulu Senior High School Students · 2026 · DOI

  • This also led to missing data about caregiver self-reported involvement, thus results about caregiver involvement may not be representative of the full sample and should be interpreted with caution. Findings may not be representative of a sample of children with consistent medical diagnoses of autism.

    Facing Your Fears in Schools (FYF-S): Connecting Participant Satisfaction, Caregiver Involvement, and Anxiety Outcomes · 2026 · DOI

  • B. Caregiver Economic Support: Provide vocational training or micro-grants to lessen the financial burden of caring for someone with RHD. Increasing Healthcare Capacity A. Primary Care Screening: Add inexpensive echocardiogram/clinical scoring at primary health facilities for early diagnosis and prevention of disease progression.

    Experiences and Needs of School Children with Rheumatic Heart Disease and Their Caregivers at Kenyatta National Hospital, Nairobi City County, Kenya · 2026 · DOI

  • However, sparse research has examined Black parent's preferences on whether and how their PCCs should discuss parent's personal CVD risk and associated lifestyle behaviors.

    Black Parent’s Perceptions of Discussing Cardiovascular Disease Risk with Primary Care Clinicians: a Qualitative Study · 2026 · DOI

  • Additional work is needed to replicate and expand these initial findings about participant satisfaction with FYF-S. Future studies should include a larger, more diverse sample to increase the generalizability of findings and enable exploration of child and caregiver characteristics (e.g., gender, ethnicity, child age) and implementation variables (e.g., session attendance, exposure completion, provider discipline)…

    Facing Your Fears in Schools (FYF-S): Connecting Participant Satisfaction, Caregiver Involvement, and Anxiety Outcomes · 2026 · DOI

  • The use of snowball sampling limits statistical generalizability and may introduce sampling bias - The study is explicitly framed as a preliminary, hypothesis-generating exploration of the multidimensional dynamics of ECS within a specific Indian urban/ semi-urban context - The sample size is limited to 100 young…

    Gender and relational dynamics in eldest child syndrome: an exploratory multidimensional study from India · 2026 · DOI

Most-cited papers in Family Support in Illness

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Open questions raised by papers listed on this page include: (1) Further research could focus on evaluating the effectiveness of the caregiver coping resource (“The Development and Co‐Production of a Caregiver Coping Resource for Pediatric…”, 2026); (2) Future research should focus on developing and evaluating the effectiveness of age-appropriate interventions for pediatric patients and their families (“Hope in the hallways: What helps children and parents heal together”, 2026); (3) There is a lack of understanding of how parents choose to share their child's story and how it can inform the development of novel supportive interventions (“Bereaved Parents’ Narratives of Their Child Who Died of Cancer: A Qualitative…”, 2026); (4) The influence of motherhood on complex trauma among young mothers formerly in residential care remains unknown (“Complex Trauma Evolution and the Influence of Motherhood: A Qualitative…”, 2026); (5) There is a lack of formal recognition and support for young carers, who are often overlooked in policy discussions (“The Invisible Frontline: Young Carers Battling Hardships in the Shadow of…”, 2026). 176 gap statements have been mined from Family Support in Illness papers in our 7.9M-paper local library, which holds 1,545 papers on the topic; the gaps come from whichever of those papers state one. They are mostly the research gaps the authors state and the papers' abstracts, plus future-work, limitations and challenges passages. The ones listed below are a selection still marked open; each names the study that raised it, with a DOI link where the paper has one, so you can read the original claim in context.

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