Reducing Emotional Distress, Enhancing Function and Improving Network Engagement in Adolescent and Young Adult Oncology

We propose to examine the effects of mindfulness based stress reduction (MBSR) on outcomes of health related quality of life, disease symptoms, and biological correlates of stress in a sample of young adults with cancer. The proposed work will serve as an essential foundation for launching a program of clinical stress reduction research with this traditionally underserved population and has the potential to lead to the discovery of specific, modifiable psychosocial, behavioral, and biological mechanisms from which to address the problem of health disparities with this group.