The Development and Process Evaluation of a 3-Day Acceptance and Commitment Therapy Group Program for Adolescent Cancer Survivors
Open accessAbstract
Background: Adolescents diagnosed with cancer experience unique psychosocial concerns that persist beyond treatment completion into longer-term survivorship. Camp-based, group Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT) programs are a potential model for providing evidence-informed psychological and peer support to adolescent cancer survivors. Objective: This paper describes the development and exploration of the feasibility and acceptability of such a program, Places You’ll Go. This manualised program incorporates five 90-min group ACT sessions within a 3-day camp, teaching ACT strategies in the context of psychosocial impacts of cancer. Method: Eight facilitators and twenty-eight Australian adolescent cancer survivors (68% female; age range 12–17 years, M = 15.4 years) participated in the program and evaluation. Feasibility was assessed using facilitator-reported session duration, attendance, quality and content fidelity; facilitators also completed interviews after program completion. Young people completed surveys on program acceptability at the end of each session and at program completion. Results: All planned sessions were delivered, with 97% attendance and high fidelity in manualised program delivery. All young people were mostly or very satisfied and would recommend the program to another cancer survivor. Opportunities for peer connection and skill development contributed to perceived program acceptability. Conclusions: The Places You’ll Go program was acceptable and feasible to deliver. It is a promising community-based model for promoting peer support and well-being in adolescent cancer survivors, indicating the potential of ACT-based approaches for this population. Further work is underway to evaluate whether the program improves psychosocial wellbeing among participants, and if this is linked to the therapeutic mechanisms underpinning ACT.
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Patients with high cognitive fusion about cancer progression often use maladaptive coping such as experiential avoidance.
“when patients get fused with their minds' stories about cancer progression, they often use maladaptive coping, such as experiential avoidance.”
From A randomized clinical trial: Efficacy of group-based acceptance and commitment therapy program for breast cancer patients with high fear of progression (2024) · cites this paper as [33]
The ACT section describes defusion and acceptance-based coping, and The Places You'll Go Program section presents them as ways to manage fear of cancer recurrence (page numbers unavailable). The paper does not say that patients fused with thoughts about cancer progression often use experiential avoidance; that behavioral link and its frequency are unsupported. (LLM, conf=0.76)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measuredThe compliance rate is higher than that in a study of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for cancer survivors (70%) but lower than that in a study of chronic lower back pain (80%).
“However, it is higher compared to a study investigating Acceptance and Commitment Therapy for cancer survivors (70%), 12 but lower than a study examining this therapy for people with chronic lower back pain (80%). 13”
From Acceptance and Commitment Therapy is feasible for people with acquired brain injury: A process evaluation of the BrainACT treatment. (2024) · cites this paper as [12]
Experiential avoidance alleviates FOP for a short time, but in the long term patients experience it at an elevated level.
“However, it alleviates FOP for a short time; in the long term, patients experience it at an elevated level.[31][32][33]”
From A randomized clinical trial: Efficacy of group-based acceptance and commitment therapy program for breast cancer patients with high fear of progression (2024) · cites this paper as [33]
The Introduction identifies fear of cancer recurrence as a concern, and the Acceptance and Commitment Therapy section describes letting go of ineffective struggles with unwanted feelings. Neither section says experiential avoidance briefly relieves fear of progression or raises it over time. Searches for experiential avoidance and the short- versus long-term effect found no passage addressing that claim; the indexed passages provide no page numbers. (LLM, conf=0.73)
Experimental — accuracy not yet measured
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- Authors
- Clarke, K., Patterson, P., McDonald, F. E. J., Wakefield, C. E., Sansom-Daly, U., & Zebrack, B.
- Affiliations
- Canteen (AU)
- The University of Sydney (AU)
- UNSW Sydney (AU)
- University of Michigan (US)
- Corresponding author
- Patterson, Pandora
- ORCID
- Venue
- Child & Youth Care Forum
- Published
- 2020-08-28
- Volume
- 50
- Issue
- 2
- Pages
- 229-246
- ISSN
- 1053-1890 (ISSN-L)
- 1573-3319
- OpenAlex
- W3082789089
- Cited by
- 18
- References
- 50
- Citations by year
- 2026: 3 · 2025: 2 · 2024: 6 · 2023: 3 · 2022: 3 · 2021: 1
- FWCI
- 1.68
- Type
- journal article
- Language
- en
- Open access
- hybrid
- doi.org
- Locations
- Child & Youth Care Forum (publishedVersion, cc-by)
- Funders
- CanTeen
- Cancer Institute NSW (14/ECF/1‐11, APP1111800)
- University of Sydney
- Medical Research Council (APP1143767)
- National Health and Medical Research Council (1143767, 1111800)
- Topics
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Pediatrics, Perinatology and Child Health › Childhood Cancer Survivors' Quality of Life
- Health Sciences › Medicine › Oncology › Cancer survivorship and care
- Social Sciences › Psychology › Clinical Psychology › Mindfulness and Compassion Interventions
- Keywords
- acceptance and commitment therapy, adolescent cancer survivors, cancer survivorship, group therapy, camp-based intervention, program development, feasibility, acceptability, peer support, psychosocial well-being
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