Abby Rosenberg, MD, MS

Adolescents and young adults (AYA) with cancer have greater psychological distress and fewer “positive health beliefs” than younger patients or adult cancer survivors. As adult survivors, they are more likely to struggle with employment, education, relationships, and health care. Parents of children with cancer also face intense hardship, economically and emotionally. For these reasons, these populations are extremely vulnerable and also do not have access to significant positive psychological resources.

As part of her first Young Investigator grant, Dr. Rosenberg worked to evaluate resilience measures in a cohort of patients and families at Seattle Children’s Hospital. The results from this study have led her to develop a novel intervention, a randomized control trial that tests the effects of a resilience intervention. This intervention is called “Promoting Resilience in Stress Management,” or PRISM for short. PRISM is an easy to implement and highly-effective program for improving resilience and stress management in AYA and parent populations. PRISM works by building stress management skills, goal setting, and meaning-making through brief sessions with intervention staff. Dr. Rosenberg hopes that this study will improve the health and well-being of this high-risk population by cultivating their ability to cope during stressful times. The long-term goal of the study is to provide training that can be used around the country to improve resilience and long-term outcomes for children and adolescents with cancer, and their families.

As the result of her two Young Investigator projects, Dr. Rosenberg has provided a vital stress management resource to AYAs and their parents:

• 1 multi-center, prospective, mixed-methods study performed 47 AYAs with cancer enrolled 58 parents of children with cancer enrolled
• 47 AYAs with cancer enrolled
• 58 parents of children with cancer enrolled
• 1 single-site, phase II randomized controlled trial performed 99 AYAs with cancer enrolled
• 99 AYAs with cancer enrolled
• 1 intervention developed that was associated with significant improvements in patient-reported resilience, cancer-specific quality of life, and hope