Qualitative investigation into the nature of low mood in young people
Research type
Research Study
Full title
Understanding the nature of low mood in young people with cancer compared to young people without cancer: a qualitative investigation
IRAS ID
195812
Contact name
Roz Shafran
Contact email
Sponsor organisation
Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS foundation Trust & The UCL Institute of Child Health
Duration of Study in the UK
0 years, 8 months, 16 days
Research summary
Young people diagnosed with cancer have to adapt to a life threatening illness and treatments at a critical time point, and manage the long term consequences. They can suffer emotionally and psychologically but do not always have access to a range of tailored interventions to support their wellbeing. Young people with depression who do not have cancer can access different interventions through a range of different media, for example individual, group or online support. Online cognitive behavioural therapy interventions are an effective form of guided self-help for mild to moderate depression, and there is increased benefit in acceptability and accessibility of these to a young population. However, such treatment options adapted for young people with cancer who face distinctive difficulties, do not exist. This project aims to better understand the factors associated with depression in young people with cancer, what an intervention for difficulties with depression would need to address, and how children and young people with cancer experience an online guided self-help intervention for depression. Semi-structured interviews will be conducted, which will be transcribed verbatim and analysed using qualitative framework analysis, to inform use of the intervention, and future theory and practice.
Lay Summary of results:
In total we interviewed 6 young people as part of this research study. Young people described a variety of opinions and experiences with regards to low mood in the context of cancer. Interpretation using the framework approach revealed eight themes organised into three domains: (1) a harder time of life; (2) interpersonal aspects of cancer; and (3) making sense of my emotions. These are summarised briefly below.A harder time of life. This comprised three themes: not being normal, life was just starting and losing your safety blanket after treatment. All young people indicated that not being normal impacted on low mood and they described how cancer created an abnormality and difference that distinguished them from their peers, and from how they were before cancer. Young people talked about the difficulties of having cancer when life was just beginning, because it suddenly dominated their life at a time when no-one expected it, and prevented them from doing things they wanted to, or had planned. Young people also explained that they unexpectedly felt low when treatment finished and reported that it felt as if they had lost aspects of support that had enabled them to feel safe.
Interpersonal aspects of cancer. This comprised two themes: cancer changed relationships and being around other young people with cancer. All young people emphasised changes to their relationships due to cancer. They talked about the effects that the cancer had on their family, friends and partners, how it changed the way that these people interacted with them, and the impact of these changes on low mood. They also talked about the effect of being around or having contact with other young people who had cancer, which were perceived by some to have very positive aspects, but there were also difficulties with this including feelings of guilt, which impacted on low mood.
Making sense of my emotions. This comprised three themes: how do I even describe low mood? You just have to cope, and external factors in coping. All young people highlighted some difficulties in describing their mood through cancer, which was often related to the way their emotions presented, the interaction of cancer itself on their mood and uncertainty about how to articulate their experience. Participants described a variety of coping methods and explained that they often had to find way to do this themselves as they often did not receive input or professional guidance at the time. External agents also impacted on coping, including support networks, the hospital environment, and medical and psychological professionals, most of which was helpful.
REC name
London - Bloomsbury Research Ethics Committee
REC reference
16/LO/0939
Date of REC Opinion
13 Jun 2016
REC opinion
Favourable Opinion