Harnessing Generativity Among Young Adult Cancer Survivors

University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA)

Status: Completed

Conditions: Young Adults; Cancer

Treatments: Behavioral: Writing for others; Behavioral: Processing + writing for others; Behavioral: Facts-only writing

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT04272346

IRB# 19-001945

Details and patient eligibility

About

Short, online interventions designed to enhance well-being may be particularly amenable for use with adolescent and young adult (AYA) cancer survivors (age 15-39 at diagnosis), an understudied group in the cancer community. The benefits of psychological well-being on both physical and mental health outcomes are well-known and, in recent years, researchers and policymakers have begun to view the period of adolescence and young adulthood as a window of opportunity to instantiate lasting habits and behaviors. Growing evidence suggests that prosocial behavior-a behavior that can be reliably manipulated through a short online intervention-may have beneficial effects on well-being and physical health. This has yet to be tested in AYA cancer survivors.

Drawing from the literature on positive psychology and prosocial interventions, the proposed study will test the feasibility and efficacy of an 8-week online peer helping intervention designed to increase well-being among AYA cancer survivors. AYA cancer survivors (n = 176) will be recruited and randomized to one of three conditions: a peer helping condition, a cancer-specific writing plus peer helping condition, or a cancer-specific writing condition (control condition). The second group was added in response to a previous study, which found that writing about one's experience prior to helping other survivors may be more beneficial. Participants will complete a weekly writing activity once per week for 4 weeks, with instructions administered via a weekly email. Participants will also complete online assessments before, during, and after the 4-week intervention period.

Enrollment: 204 patients

Sex: All

Ages: 18 to 39 years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion criteria

• diagnosis of cancer (any type) between the ages of 15 and 39 years
• have completed primary treatment and are in remission (partial or complete)
• between the ages of 18 and 39 years
• fluent in English
• have access to the internet and email.

Exclusion criteria

-none

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Single Blind

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204 participants in 3 patient groups, including a placebo group

Peer helping condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in the peer helping condition will be asked to write about their cancer experience with an emphasis on using the experience to benefit a newly-diagnosed AYA cancer patient.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Writing for others

Processing + peer helping condition

Experimental group

Description:

Participants in the processing + peer helping condition will be asked to first write about their deepest thoughts and feelings about their cancer experience (3 writings), then share advice to a newly-diagnosed AYA cancer patient (final writing).

Treatment:

Behavioral: Processing + writing for others

Facts-only writing condition

Placebo Comparator group

Description:

Participants in the facts-only writing condition will be asked to write about their cancer experience. Unlike the previous conditions, they will not be instructed to write for the benefit of a newly-diagnosed AYA cancer patient.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Facts-only writing