Mobile App of CBT for Anxiety and Cancer

Participants in the control group will receive a health education program using a tablet computer identical to the intervention group. The content of this program is adapted from a health education intervention used as the control condition for a cognitive behavioral stress and affect management intervention in a NIH-funded randomized controlled trial of a quality of life intervention for patients with advanced prostate cancer (R21CA102761, PI: Penedo). The program consists of the same number of sessions as the intervention group and includes general information about health and well-being. Specifically, control participants will learn information about topics such as healthy eating, exercise, memory and cognition, and side effects in the context of a cancer diagnosis and treatment.

The CBT intervention is brief, consisting of 6 modules lasting approximately 30 minutes each. Sessions focus on skills for relaxation, coping with cancer-related worries, as well as activity planning and pacing. Prior to starting the program, a trained research assistant will meet with participants in a private office setting to orient them to the software and instruct them on the use of the mobile tablet device. Once patients are comfortable with the functions and features of the mobile app, they will be encouraged to self-administer the intervention on their study-issued tablet at home and during their regularly scheduled oncology visits, for example while receiving chemotherapy infusion or waiting for a doctor's appointment or tests.