ABSTRACT
Background/Purpose: The SARS-II COVID-19 pandemic halted inperson cancer support. Young Adult (YA) cancer survivors (18-39) face physical and mental health challenges unique to their demographic, including fertility, school, and work issues. YAs have benefited from telemental health groups, with outcomes comparable to in-person groups (Oswald et al., 2021). With a lack of evidencebased interventions for YAs, the pandemic presented an opportunity to develop a virtual YA cancer support group designed to increase self-efficacy, reduce distress, and provide coping skills, and facilitate meaningful connections. Methods: Participants (N = 8) were white, 50% female, 19-37 (M = 26), in active treatment or remission with heterogeneous diagnoses. Eight 60-min sessions included interventions derived from ACT (Eilenberg et al., 2014) and MCP (Breitbart and Poppito, 2005), both for group. Participants were surveyed pre- (T1), mid- (T2), and post- (T3) intervention with seven instruments. Longitudinal data were modeled using a repeated measures analysis of variance (ANOVA). Qualitative feedback also was solicited. Results: Participants reported a reduction in anxious preoccupation, helplessness/hopelessness, and psychological inflexibility (T1-T3;p = < 0.05). On average, they would recommend the group to others, 7.5/10 (T2) and 7.8/10 (T3), and felt able to cope with cancer, 8.2/10 (T2) and 8.6/10 (T3) and the pandemic, 10/10 (T2 and T3). Qualitative feedback described the group as “life changing” and “reassuring” and group impact as having “eased fear of exposure. ” Conclusions and Implications: Our data contribute to new norms for an underrepresented population. The lack of participant diversity calls for a needs assessment to identify barriers to reaching communities of color. Cancer was comparatively more disruptive in YAs' lives than COVID-19. Participants preferred unstructured sessions to share experiences. Quantitative data, while significant in areas, did not capture participants' lived experience. Subjective feedback emphasizes the importance of age-related connections and suggests the need for further research.