Anxiety, Depression, and Resilience among Sexual Minority Colorectal Cancer Survivors: A Secondary Analysis

Abstract

This secondary research study explores potential relationships between mental health counseling and anxiety, depression, and resilience among sexual minority group colorectal cancer (SMG CRC) survivors through secondary data analyses. It employs secondary data analysis using data from a cross-sectional research study conducted by Boehmer and colleagues from 2015-2019. Descriptive statistics, chi-square tests, independent sample t-tests, Analysis of Variance (ANOVA), and analysis of covariance (ANCOVA) were used to determine the effects of mental health counseling on primary outcomes. All hypotheses regarding lower levels of anxiety and depression and higher levels of resilience in those who never used mental health counseling vs. ever were not supported by the data. However, mental health counseling should remain an important component of cancer care for SMG CRC survivors and more tailored interventions considering SMG potential stress inducers in cancer survivorship should be evaluated.