Emotional distress in adolescent cancer patients
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Metacognitive beliefs and attentional bias in adolescent cancer patients
IRAS ID
291508
Contact name
Peter Fisher
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
University of Liverpool
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 10 months, 30 days
Research summary
Research Summary:
Children and adolescents who have completed active cancer treatment often report anxiety, depression and trauma symptoms. Without effective intervention, distress can persist in to adulthood. To improve the effectiveness of existing psychological interventions, a greater understanding of the psychological processes involved in the development and maintenance of symptoms is needed. Research within the adult cancer population has identified the role that metacognitive beliefs (beliefs about how we think) and attentional bias (e.g. what we are drawn to notice first) play in emotional distress. The current study will investigate the association of metacognitive beliefs and attentional bias within childhood survivors. The study involves participants completing an online visual search task to assess attentional bias, followed by a survey comprised of interlinked questionnaires to assess anxiety, depression and post traumatic stress symptoms (PTSS). Participants will be invited to participate in part 2 of the study 6 weeks later to allow us to collect follow up data.
Part 2 will involve repeating the online self-report survey.
Lay Summary of Results:
The study was on emotional distress and psychological factors in young people who had completed medical treatment for cancer. Sixty seven (67) young people, aged between 12 and 18 years old, took part in the study. All the participants in the study were recruited from Alder Hey Children's Hospital Trust. The study used a survey which asked about different types of emotional distress such as anxiety, low mood and worry. The participants were also asked about the beliefs that they had about worry and rumination.
The main outcomes were that worry and rumination were associated with higher levels of emotional distress. The young people who thought more negatively about worry and rumination were more likely to experience emotional distress. These results suggest that changing how young people with cancer think about worry could help to reduce the severity of emotional distress. One type of psychological therapy that aims to do this is called metacognitive therapy. It would be valuable to test if metacognitive therapy could decrease anxiety and improve mood in young people who have survived cancer.REC name
Yorkshire & The Humber - Leeds West Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
22/YH/0052
Date of REC Opinion
26 Apr 2022
REC opinion
Further Information Favourable Opinion