Introduction

1. Evaluation of an acceptance-based intervention for children and adolescents with mucositis during cancer treatmentJenny Thorsell Cederberg1, JoAnne Dahl2, Louise von Essen3 & Gustaf Ljungman1 1 Department of Women’s and Children’s Health, Uppsala University2 Department of Psychology, Uppsala University3 Department of Public Health and Caring Sciences, Uppsala UniversityCorresponding author: jenny.thorsell.cederberg@kbh.uu.se Aim The aim of the present study is to evaluate an acceptance-based intervention for children and adolescents with cancer affected by mucositis. Methods All participants, aged 4-18 years, from the Pediatric Oncology Units in the Uppsala and Stockholm regions (Eskilstuna, Falun, Gävle, Hudiksvall, Uppsala, Västerås, Örebro, Huddinge and Solna), undergoing cytostatic treatment, radiation therapy and/or stem cell transplantation and showing symptoms of mucositis will be eligible for the study. The intervention consists of psychoeducation about common reactions to pain and how it affects short- and long term functioning and modelling of, and exercises to practice, an acceptance-based approach to painful stimuli. Results The study is currently on-going. Results will be reported as soon as possible after end of study. Acknowledgments: The study is funded by the Swedish Childhood Cancer Foundation. Conflict of interest: The authors declare no conflict of interest. Introduction Mucositis, a condition of painful ulcers and/or inflammation orally or gastro-intestinally, is a common side effect of cancer treatment. In the pediatric population approximately 80 % of patients are affected. According to children and their parents the condition is one of the most painful and debilitating side effects during the whole cancer treatment period. Psychological acceptance has been shown beneficial for persons with chronic pain. Regarding acute pain, acceptance-based methods have fairly recently started to become evaluated scientifically, showing promising results. Meditation interventions for induced experimental pain, with an emphasis on mere observation of painful stimuli without further mental processing in a non-reactive, non-judging way, completely corresponding to the process of acceptance, have been shown to predict increased pain tolerance and decreased pain intensity and experienced unpleasantness of pain. An example of mucositis.