Avenell, Linda Claire (2021) The role of anxiety, stress, and depression in bowel cancer screening behaviour. Honours thesis, University of Southern Queensland. (Unpublished)
Abstract
Bowel cancer is the second most common cancer in Australia, for both men and women, with 16,240 cases diagnosed in 2020. The Australian National Bowel Cancer Screening Program (NBCSP) targets individuals between the ages of 50 and 74, the sector of the community with the highest risk of developing bowel cancer. The aim of this project was to identify whether higher levels of generalised stress, anxiety or depression would affect whether an invitee of the NBCSP would return their test kit for analysis. A cross-sectional survey, using the Depression Anxiety Stress Scale 21 (DASS-21), and kit return in NBCSP recipients was conducted between 21 April and 19 July 2021. A sample of 193 eligible adults, comprising 74 females and 119 males, participated in the survey. Binary logistic regressions, controlled for age and gender, were used to assess the suitability of these negative emotional states as predictors of test kit return. Whilst each regression model was significant, because of age and gender, the coefficients for stress, anxiety and depression indicated these variables provided no additional predictive benefit. These findings indicate there is not a need for policy makers to direct expenditure towards interventions targeting these negative emotional states. Replicating results of previous research, age (r = 0.34) and gender effects (d = 1.18) were found, whereby males and younger individuals were less likely to return their test kit. This further highlighted the need to investigate the reasons for non-participation by these groups, so that interventions can address any concerns identified.
|
Statistics for this ePrint Item |
| Item Type: | Thesis (Non-Research) (Honours) |
|---|---|
| Item Status: | Live Archive |
| Additional Information: | Current UniSQ staff and students can request access to this thesis. Please email research.repository@unisq.edu.au with a subject line of SEAR thesis request and provide: Name of the thesis requested and Your name and UniSQ email address |
| Faculty/School / Institute/Centre: | Historic - Faculty of Health, Engineering and Sciences - School of Psychology and Counselling (1 Jan 2015 - 31 Dec 2021) |
| Supervisors: | Michael Ireland; Belinda Goodwin |
| Qualification: | Bachelor of Science (Honours) |
| Date Deposited: | 21 Jul 2025 03:11 |
| Last Modified: | 21 Jul 2025 03:11 |
| Uncontrolled Keywords: | Colorectal cancer (CRC) screening ; bowel cancer screening ; stress ; anxiety ; depression ; NBCSP kit return |
| Fields of Research (2008): | 17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 1799 Other Psychology and Cognitive Sciences > 179999 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences not elsewhere classified |
| Fields of Research (2020): | 52 PSYCHOLOGY > 5299 Other psychology > 529999 Other psychology not elsewhere classified |
| URI: | https://sear.unisq.edu.au/id/eprint/52129 |
Actions (login required)
 |
Archive Repository Staff Only |
