Clinical trial · Interventional
Harnessing Generativity Among Young Adult Cancer Survivors
The Effects of Prosocial Writing on Psychological Well-being: An Online Randomized Controlled Trial Among Young Adult Cancer Survivors
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
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.
Conditions
Conditions (2)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cancer | Malignant Neoplasm | ALIAS | 0.90 |
| Young Adults | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
Interventions
Interventions (3)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Facts-only writing | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Processing + writing for others | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Writing for others | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (3)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Peer helping condition
- 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.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Writing for others
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Processing + peer helping condition
- 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).
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Processing + writing for others
- type
- PLACEBO_COMPARATOR
- label
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
- Maximum age
- 39 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
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
References
Publications (1)
- DERIVEDHaydon MD, Stanton AL, Hoyt MA, Bower JE. A randomized controlled trial testing the benefits of prosocial writing in young adult survivors of adolescent and young adult cancer. Health Psychol. 2025 Sep;44(9):886-897. doi: 10.1037/hea0001512. Epub 2025 May 5. PMID 40323828