A Study Comparing Two Types of Supportive Interventions for Caregivers of Patients With Cancer

NCT04802720 | Active Not Recruiting

• 1 other identifier: 20-407
• Study Type: interventional
• Target: 348
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 5

Brief Summary

The purpose of this study is to compare two types of therapy for caregivers of cancer patients: Emotion Regulation Therapy for Cancer Caregivers (ERT-C) and Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-C). The researchers want to see if ERT-C is better than, the same as, or worse than traditional CBT-C at improving caregiver distress. The researchers will look at how the two types of therapy affect caregivers' anxiety, depression, and quality of life. The researchers will also see how ERT-C and CBT-C affect hormone and stress levels in caregivers' saliva samples. In addition, this trial will enroll cancer patients in this study to see how their caregivers' participation in ERT-C or CBT may affect the patients' quality of life, stress, and use of healthcare services. Participants who become bereaved while on study will be given the option to withdraw or remain on study. Assessments for bereaved caregivers will not include the Caregiver Quality of Life Index-Cancer (CQOLC) or the Caregiver Reaction Assessment (CRA).

Conditions

Cancer Patients; Family Caregivers

Keywords

Emotion Regulation Therapy; Addressing Caregiver Distress; Supportive Interventions; 20-407; Training participants

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (2)

• changes in anxiety symptoms

  as assessed via the HADS Developed by Zigmond and Snaith in 1983, the HADS produces two scales, one for anxiety (HADS-A) and one for depression (HADS-D), differentiating the two states. Items of the overall severity of anxiety and depression are rated on a five-point (0-4) severity scales (ranging from 0 = no not at all, to 3 = yes definitely), for a total score ranging from 0-21 for each subscale. A higher score indicates higher distress

  up to 6 months

• changes in depressive symptoms

  as assessed via the HADS Developed by Zigmond and Snaith in 1983, the HADS produces two scales, one for anxiety (HADS-A) and one for depression (HADS-D), differentiating the two states. Items of the overall severity of anxiety and depression are rated on a five-point (0-4) severity scales (ranging from 0 = no not at all, to 3 = yes definitely), for a total score ranging from 0-21 for each subscale. A higher score indicates higher distress

  up to 6 months

Study Arms (3)

ERT-C: Emotion Regulation Therapy for Cancer Caregivers

EXPERIMENTAL

Emotion Regulation Therapy for Cancer Caregivers (ERT-C) is an 8-session intervention that builds upon the foundations of CBT-C and addresses earlier motivational processing components of the caregivers context while targeting earlier and later components of internal distress and resultant maladaptive behavioral coping.

Other: Emotion Regulation Therapy for Cancer Caregivers (ERT-C)

CBT-C: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Cancer Caregivers

EXPERIMENTAL

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy (CBT-C) is an evidence-based psychotherapeutic approach that is grounded in the cognitive model that purports that a person's emotional, behavioral, and physiological reactions to a situation is based on their appraisal of that situation. The focus of therapy is on changing cognitions and beliefs about a situation and altering automatic behavioral responses evoked by that perception. CBT-C aims to improve emotion regulation by challenging and changing unhelpful cognitions and behaviors and improving personal coping strategies.

Other: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Cancer Caregivers (CBT-C)

Training case group

EXPERIMENTAL

Will be assigned to receive ERT-C only and will not complete questionnaires.

Other: Emotion Regulation Therapy for Cancer Caregivers (ERT-C)

Interventions

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Cancer Caregivers (CBT-C) OTHER

The sessions are outlined as follow: 1. psychoeducation, goal-setting, and describing the rationale for CBT (Session 1); 2. coping effectiveness training (Session 2); 3. identifying unhelpful cognitions and dysfunctional beliefs (Session 3); 4. challenging and restructuring unhelpful cognitions (Session 4); 5. behavioral activation within the limitations of the caregiving context (Session 5); 6. problem-solving (Session 6); 7. communication strategies and assertiveness training (Session 7); 8. consolidating gains, maintenance, and relapse prevention (Session 8).

CBT-C: Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Cancer Caregivers

Emotion Regulation Therapy for Cancer Caregivers (ERT-C) OTHER

The sessions are outlined as follow: 1. psychoeducation and motivation/dysregulation cue detection within caregiving contexts (Session 1); 2. attention regulation skills training (Sessions 1-2); 3. training in metacognitive skills (Sessions 3-4); 4. exposure to proactive living in the face of risk and loss while applying skills (Sessions 5-7); 5. consolidating gains, taking larger proactive steps, and relapse prevention (Session 8).

ERT-C: Emotion Regulation Therapy for Cancer Caregivers; Training case group

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 18 Years+
• Sex: all
• Healthy Volunteers: Yes
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)

You may qualify if:

• Caregivers:
• As per self-report, age 18 years or older.
• As per self-report, are a caregiver to an MSK or MGH patient with any site/stage of cancer who has received any type of treatment (e.g. curative, palliative) in the past 12 months.
• Experience distress as evidenced by a score of 4 or greater on the Distress Thermometer (DT) and answer "Yes" to at least one of the follow-up questions (i.e. reporting that their distress is related to their caregiving experience, or their distress started or is related to caregiving or has gotten worse since the patient was diagnosed or began treatment. (N/A for training case participants)
• English fluent: Self-report by subject identifying English as the preferred language for healthcare, and self-reported degree of fluency as speaking English "Very well."
• As per self-report, residing in New York or New Jersey (for MSK participants), or Massachusetts (for MGH participants), or have the ability to complete sessions while complying with current telehealth regulations.
• Patients:
• Age 18 years or older as per EMR.
• Patient of an eligible caregiver per self-report or the EMR.
• English speaking as per the EMR or self report by subject identifying English as the preferred language for healthcare, and self-reported degree of fluency as speaking English "Very well.".

You may not qualify if:

• Caregivers:
• As per self-report, presence of disorder that compromises comprehension of assessments or informed consent information (e.g., dementia).
• As per the judgement of the consenting professional, clinical, PI, and/or as per the medical record, severe psychopathology or cognitive impairment which is likely to interfere with the participation or completion of the protocol or their ability to provide meaningful information
• As per self-report, currently engaged in regular individual psychotherapeutic support (that the participant is unable or unwilling to put on hold for the course of treatment).
• As per self-report, a lifetime history of bipolar disorder, schizophrenia, or schizoaffective disorder.
• As per self-report, has medical condition or medication use known to confound measures of systemic inflammation (e.g., autoimmune disorder, inflammatory disease; uncontrolled thyroid disease; active infection; myocardial infarction or stroke in the last 6 months; Type I diabetes; acute hepatitis; recent vaccination for viral disease). (N/A for training case participants)
• As per self-report, is a regular smoker, defined as having more than 2 cigarettes per day on most days. (N/A for training case participants)
• As per self-report, providing care for a patient who has a caregiver is currently or formerly enrolled in this study ('formerly enrolled' is N/A for training case participants).
• As per self-report, currently enrolled in another study focused on supportive care for caregivers (MGH participants only).
• Patients:
• Presence of disorder that compromises comprehension of assessments or informed consent information (e.g., dementia) as per EMR or clinician judgment.
• As per the judgement of the consenting professional, clinical, PI, and/or as per the medical record, severe psychopathology or cognitive impairment which is likely to interfere with the participation or completion of the protocol or their ability to provide meaningful information

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center: lead
• University of Aarhus: collaborator
• Columbia University: collaborator
• University of California: collaborator
• University of Michigan: collaborator

Study Sites (5)

University of California, Irvine (Data and Specimen Analysis Only)

Irvine, California, 92697, United States

Location

Massachusetts General Hospital

Boston, Massachusetts, 02114, United States

Location

Mount Sinai Hospital (Data Analysis Only)

New York, New York, 10029, United States

Location

Columbia University (Data and Specimen Analysis Only)

New York, New York, 10032, United States

Location

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

New York, New York, 10065, United States

Location

Related Links

• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

MeSH Terms

Interventions

Cognitive Behavioral Therapy

Intervention Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Behavior Therapy; Psychotherapy; Behavioral Disciplines and Activities

Study Officials

• Christian Nelson, PhD

  Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

Study Design

• Study Type: interventional
• Phase: not applicable
• Allocation: RANDOMIZED
• Masking: NONE
• Purpose: SUPPORTIVE CARE
• Intervention Model: PARALLEL
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Model Details: This study will utilize a randomized, controlled, repeated measures design to investigate the efficacy of Emotion Regulation Therapy for Cancer Caregivers (ERT-C) vs. Cognitive Behavioral Therapy for Cancer Caregivers.

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: March 1, 2021
• First Posted: March 17, 2021
• Study Start: February 26, 2021
• Primary Completion: February 14, 2025
• Study Completion: January 8, 2026
• Last Updated: July 28, 2025

Record last verified: 2025-07

Data Sharing

• IPD Sharing: Will share

Locations

US (5)