A study appearing in February’s edition of the journal Pediatrics, indicates that a diagnosis of cancer doesn’t doom youngsters to a miserable childhood. According to this research, after treatment many kids are just as happy and well-adjusted as those who never had the illness, and sometimes even more so.

The findings are based on interviews with 8- to 12-year-olds and show how resilient youngsters can be even when facing something as scary as cancer. The results also indicate that children’s perceptions very often differ from those of their parents, whose own negative feelings about the experience may influence how they feel their children are coping.

Quoted in an AP article on the study, Dr. Smita Bhatia, lead author and a pediatric cancer specialist at City of Hope National Medical Center in Duarte, California said, “What we are finding is very reassuring. Parents should be encouraged to know that young survivors “can indeed put their cancer behind them.”

The full text study is available here.