Adolescent and young adult (AYA) survivors (ages 15-39) are typically siloed into a binary age classification system: "pediatric" (under 18 years old) and "adult" (over 18 years old). This obfuscates the unique needs that are tied to emerging adulthood, a developmental stage marked by changes in major life domains (e.g., forming romantic relationships, starting a career, becoming financially independent). Despite AYA survivors' increased risk of poor mental health outcomes, there are few age-specific resources to support them with navigating survivorship while attending to the normative developmental tasks of emerging adulthood. The use of digital health interventions (DHIs) to improve AYA survivors' mental health has great promise, given that DHIs can increase accessibility to care and align with AYA patterns of technology use. The positive effects of such interventions, however, are moderated by engagement and adherence, which vary widely. This study aimed to answer three research questions: (1) How do AYA cancer survivors manage stress in their lives?; (2) what are their experiences with mindfulness and meditation?; and (3) what features would facilitate AYA survivors' engagement with and adherence to a mindfulness-based DHI that utilizes peer coaching?
U.S.-based cancer survivors (ages 18-39) were recruited via Hackensack Meridian Health's Cure and Beyond survivorship clinic and a national AYA advocacy non-profit. After screening for eligibility, 19 semi-structured Zoom interviews were conducted, each lasting approximately 1 hour. Transcribed interview data were analyzed using deductive thematic coding. The authors developed a list of codes based on concepts from the supportive accountability model. The data was analyzed using this codebook. The authors then independently reviewed and grouped the codes and met to generate initial themes. These initial themes were refined, then reviewed for coherence, distinction, and representation.
Preliminary findings, conclusions, and implications will be presented.
Acknowledgements: I would like to acknowledge the Kwok lab, specifically my PI, Dr. Gary Kwok and my colleague Shannon Cheung, MSW, for their guidance and collaboration on this project.
We would like to express our gratitude towards the team at CAB, particularly Dr. Katharine Lange and Kelly Crowley, who were instrumental in early recruitment. We also would like to thank Stupid Cancer for their work in bringing together AYA cancer survivors and challenging the isolation in this community. With the help of Brigid Frasquillo and Matthew Marroquin, we were able to share this research with AYAs from across the country and expand our recruitment efforts significantly.