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A Pilot Study of an Intervention for Breast Cancer Survivors and Their Spouses
Author(s) -
Shields Cleveland G.,
Rousseau Sally J.
Publication year - 2004
Publication title -
family process
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 1.011
H-Index - 74
eISSN - 1545-5300
pISSN - 0014-7370
DOI - 10.1111/j.1545-5300.2004.04301008.x
Subject(s) - breast cancer , coping (psychology) , psychological intervention , session (web analytics) , distress , intervention (counseling) , psychology , focus group , medicine , clinical psychology , psychotherapist , cancer , physical therapy , psychiatry , marketing , world wide web , computer science , business
Recent studies have shown that interventions that increase breast cancer patients' communication with family members lead to reduced patient distress. In this article, we report on a treatment development and pilot study of an intervention for couples coping with breast cancer. In phase 1 of this study, 10 couples participated in two focus groups that generated ideas and themes for the intervention. In phase 2, we developed and pilot tested our intervention with 48 couples: 12 in a 2‐session format, 21 in a 1‐session format, and 15 in a non‐experimental control group. Our response rate shows that breast cancer patients and spouses were willing to participate and that treatment providers were willing to refer patients and their spouses. The 2‐session format showed the most promise for producing positive change in mental health functioning and cancer‐related stress.