Emotion Regulation and Cancer Caregiving

NCT06123416 | Completed DMC

• 1 other identifier: IRB-47800
• Study Type: observational
• Target: 30
• Locations: 1 country
• Sites: 1

Brief Summary

The purpose of the study is to determine how the behaviors of cancer caregivers can impact patients.

Conditions

Breast Cancer; Cancer; Healthy; Emotions

Outcome Measures

Primary Outcomes (1)

• Emotion Regulation Questionnaire

  Emotion regulation refers to the ways people influence which emotions they have, and how they experience and express these emotions. Participants will rate their habitual pursuit of pro-hedonic, contra-hedonic, pro-social, and impression management goals using the ERGS. The items will be rated on the same 7-point scale (1 = never; 7 = always).

  Baseline through 3 months post-intervention

Study Arms (2)

Control Caregivers

Control participants will write about their daily and future tasks three times.

Behavioral: Expressive Writing

Expressive Writing Caregivers

Experimental participants will write about their thoughts and feelings about an emotionally difficult event three times.

Behavioral: Expressive Writing

Interventions

Expressive Writing BEHAVIORAL

Caregivers complete three 20-min writing sessions in which they write about an assigned topic - emotional or non-emotional.

Control Caregivers; Expressive Writing Caregivers

Eligibility Criteria

• Age: 21 Years+
• Sex: all
• Age Groups: Adult (18-64), Older Adult (65+)
• Sampling Method: Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Nonrecurrent breast cancer patients and their caregivers (unpaid person who is close to the patient and provides emotional, medical and/or financial support).

You may qualify if:

• All participants must:
• Be 21 years or older
• Have access to a computer with internet access
• Patients must:
• Be women
• Have a diagnosis of breast cancer (non-recurrent)
• Caregivers must be:
• The patient's caregiver (providing support to the patient)

You may not qualify if:

• Participants must not be:
• Younger than 21 years
• Patients must not:
• Be men
• Have a diagnosis other than breast cancer (non-recurrent)

Sponsors & Collaborators

• Stanford University: lead
• U.S. National Science Foundation: collaborator

Study Sites (1)

Stanford University

Stanford, California, 94305, United States

Location

Related Publications (30)

• National Alliance for Caregiving. (2016). Cancer Caregiving in the U.S.: An Intense, Episodic, and Challenging Care Experience.

  BACKGROUND

• Ryerson AB, Eheman CR, Altekruse SF, Ward JW, Jemal A, Sherman RL, Henley SJ, Holtzman D, Lake A, Noone AM, Anderson RN, Ma J, Ly KN, Cronin KA, Penberthy L, Kohler BA. Annual Report to the Nation on the Status of Cancer, 1975-2012, featuring the increasing incidence of liver cancer. Cancer. 2016 May 1;122(9):1312-37. doi: 10.1002/cncr.29936. Epub 2016 Mar 9.

  PMID: 26959385 BACKGROUND

• Lwi SJ, Ford BQ, Casey JJ, Miller BL, Levenson RW. Poor caregiver mental health predicts mortality of patients with neurodegenerative disease. Proc Natl Acad Sci U S A. 2017 Jul 11;114(28):7319-7324. doi: 10.1073/pnas.1701597114. Epub 2017 Jun 27.

  PMID: 28655841 BACKGROUND

• Kershaw, T., Northouse, L., Kritpracha, C., Schafenacker, A., & Mood, D. (2004). Coping strategies and quality of life in women with advanced breast cancer and their family caregivers. Psychology & Health, 19, 139-155.

  BACKGROUND

• Appleton AA, Loucks EB, Buka SL, Kubzansky LD. Divergent associations of antecedent- and response-focused emotion regulation strategies with midlife cardiovascular disease risk. Ann Behav Med. 2014 Oct;48(2):246-55. doi: 10.1007/s12160-014-9600-4.

  PMID: 24570218 BACKGROUND

• Gross, J. J. (1998). The emerging field of emotion regulation: An integrative review. Review of General Psychology, 2, 271-299.

  BACKGROUND

• Gross, J. J. (2015). Emotion regulation: Current status and future prospects. Psychological Inquiry, 26, 1-26.

  BACKGROUND

• Webb TL, Miles E, Sheeran P. Dealing with feeling: a meta-analysis of the effectiveness of strategies derived from the process model of emotion regulation. Psychol Bull. 2012 Jul;138(4):775-808. doi: 10.1037/a0027600. Epub 2012 May 14.

  PMID: 22582737 BACKGROUND

• Srivastava S, Tamir M, McGonigal KM, John OP, Gross JJ. The social costs of emotional suppression: a prospective study of the transition to college. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2009 Apr;96(4):883-97. doi: 10.1037/a0014755.

  PMID: 19309209 BACKGROUND

• Richards JM, Gross JJ. Emotion regulation and memory: the cognitive costs of keeping one's cool. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2000 Sep;79(3):410-24. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.79.3.410.

  PMID: 10981843 BACKGROUND

• Aldao A, Nolen-Hoeksema S, Schweizer S. Emotion-regulation strategies across psychopathology: A meta-analytic review. Clin Psychol Rev. 2010 Mar;30(2):217-37. doi: 10.1016/j.cpr.2009.11.004. Epub 2009 Nov 20.

  PMID: 20015584 BACKGROUND

• Butler EA, Egloff B, Wilhelm FH, Smith NC, Erickson EA, Gross JJ. The social consequences of expressive suppression. Emotion. 2003 Mar;3(1):48-67. doi: 10.1037/1528-3542.3.1.48.

  PMID: 12899316 BACKGROUND

• Pennebaker, J. W. (1997). Writing about emotional experiences as a therapeutic process. Psychological Science, 8, 162-166.

  BACKGROUND

• Smyth JM. Written emotional expression: effect sizes, outcome types, and moderating variables. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1998 Feb;66(1):174-84. doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.66.1.174.

  PMID: 9489272 BACKGROUND

• Zachariae R, O'Toole MS. The effect of expressive writing intervention on psychological and physical health outcomes in cancer patients--a systematic review and meta-analysis. Psychooncology. 2015 Nov;24(11):1349-59. doi: 10.1002/pon.3802. Epub 2015 Apr 14.

  PMID: 25871981 BACKGROUND

• Ferrell B, Wittenberg E. A review of family caregiving intervention trials in oncology. CA Cancer J Clin. 2017 Jul 8;67(4):318-325. doi: 10.3322/caac.21396. Epub 2017 Mar 20.

  PMID: 28319263 BACKGROUND

• Pennebaker JW. Putting stress into words: health, linguistic, and therapeutic implications. Behav Res Ther. 1993 Jul;31(6):539-48. doi: 10.1016/0005-7967(93)90105-4.

  PMID: 8347112 BACKGROUND

• Lepore, S. J., & Smyth, J. (Eds.). (2003). The writing cure: How expressive writing influences health and well-being. Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.

  BACKGROUND

• Pennebaker, J. W., & Graybeal, A. (2001). Patterns of natural language use: Disclosure, personality, and social integration. Current Directions in Psychological Science, 10, 90-93.

  BACKGROUND

• Gross JJ, John OP. Individual differences in two emotion regulation processes: implications for affect, relationships, and well-being. J Pers Soc Psychol. 2003 Aug;85(2):348-62. doi: 10.1037/0022-3514.85.2.348.

  PMID: 12916575 BACKGROUND

• Antoni MH, Lutgendorf SK, Cole SW, Dhabhar FS, Sephton SE, McDonald PG, Stefanek M, Sood AK. The influence of bio-behavioural factors on tumour biology: pathways and mechanisms. Nat Rev Cancer. 2006 Mar;6(3):240-8. doi: 10.1038/nrc1820.

  PMID: 16498446 BACKGROUND

• Kim Y, Schulz R, Carver CS. Benefit-finding in the cancer caregiving experience. Psychosom Med. 2007 Apr;69(3):283-91. doi: 10.1097/PSY.0b013e3180417cf4. Epub 2007 Apr 9.

  PMID: 17420443 BACKGROUND

• DiMatteo MR. Variations in patients' adherence to medical recommendations: a quantitative review of 50 years of research. Med Care. 2004 Mar;42(3):200-9. doi: 10.1097/01.mlr.0000114908.90348.f9.

  PMID: 15076819 BACKGROUND

• Porter LS, Keefe FJ, Lipkus I, Hurwitz H. Ambivalence over emotional expression in patients with gastrointestinal cancer and their caregivers: associations with patient pain and quality of life. Pain. 2005 Oct;117(3):340-348. doi: 10.1016/j.pain.2005.06.021.

  PMID: 16153771 BACKGROUND

• Pennebaker JW, Colder M, Sharp LK. Accelerating the coping process. J Pers Soc Psychol. 1990 Mar;58(3):528-537. doi: 10.1037//0022-3514.58.3.528.

  PMID: 2324942 BACKGROUND

• Pennebaker JW, Kiecolt-Glaser JK, Glaser R. Disclosure of traumas and immune function: health implications for psychotherapy. J Consult Clin Psychol. 1988 Apr;56(2):239-45. doi: 10.1037//0022-006x.56.2.239. No abstract available.

  PMID: 3372832 BACKGROUND

• Crawford J, Wilhelm K, Robins L, Proudfoot J. Writing for Health: Rationale and Protocol for a Randomized Controlled Trial of Internet-Based Benefit-Finding Writing for Adults With Type 1 or Type 2 Diabetes. JMIR Res Protoc. 2017 Mar 14;6(3):e42. doi: 10.2196/resprot.7151.

  PMID: 28292741 BACKGROUND

• Kelley JE, Lumley MA, Leisen JC. Health effects of emotional disclosure in rheumatoid arthritis patients. Health Psychol. 1997 Jul;16(4):331-40. doi: 10.1037//0278-6133.16.4.331.

  PMID: 9237085 BACKGROUND

• Riddle JP, Smith HE, Jones CJ. Does written emotional disclosure improve the psychological and physical health of caregivers? A systematic review and meta-analysis. Behav Res Ther. 2016 May;80:23-32. doi: 10.1016/j.brat.2016.03.004. Epub 2016 Mar 19.

  PMID: 27017529 BACKGROUND

• Eldesouky L, Gross JJ. Using expressive writing to improve cancer caregiver and patient health: A randomized controlled feasibility trial. Eur J Oncol Nurs. 2024 Jun;70:102578. doi: 10.1016/j.ejon.2024.102578. Epub 2024 Mar 21.

  PMID: 38522170 DERIVED

MeSH Terms

Conditions

Breast Neoplasms; Neoplasms

Condition Hierarchy (Ancestors)

Neoplasms by Site; Breast Diseases; Skin Diseases; Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases

Study Officials

• Lameese Eldesouky, PhD

  Stanford University

  PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR

• James Gross, PhD

  Stanford University

  STUDY DIRECTOR

Study Design

• Study Type: observational
• Observational Model: COHORT
• Time Perspective: CROSS SECTIONAL
• Target Duration: 4 Months
• Sponsor Type: OTHER
• Responsible Party: SPONSOR

Study Record Dates

• First Submitted: January 17, 2019
• First Posted: November 8, 2023
• Study Start: January 16, 2019
• Primary Completion: July 15, 2019
• Study Completion: July 15, 2019
• Last Updated: November 13, 2023

Record last verified: 2023-11

Locations

US (1)