Over the course of the past 7 years, we have conducted a series of studies of women with early stage breast cancer and their partners seeking to understand relationship support processes and to intervene with couples to determine if couple-focused group interventions are beneficial. Our results have underscored the importance of communication between partners particularly when the patient is sharing her concerns and /worries about breast cancer. The goal of the next proposed study in our program of research is to evaluate he efficacy of an enhanced couple-focused group intervention (ECG) against a Support Group intervention SG) and Usual Care (UC). ECG increases the emphasis on facilitating support and intimacy-building and stress management skills and practice and contains two more sessions. Our pilot data suggests that ECG has stronger effects than our prior couple-focused group intervention and also may impact partners. This study will advance our previous work by: 1) examining whether ECG has stronger effects on patient functioning than SG, which facilitates group support but does not target relationship support and stress management skills;2) identifying the mechanisms of change for ECG versus SG;3) evaluating the impact of ECG versus SG and UC on a broader range of outcomes including partner ratings of patient functioning, role/social functioning, treatment adherence, partner psychosocial functioning, and partner support and stress management skills;4) identifying moderators for ECG and SG. 638 patients and their partners will be randomly assigned to ECG, SG, or UC. Couples will complete surveys pre-intervention, 1 week, 6 months and one year post-intervention. The primary aims are: 1) To evaluate the impact of ECG, SG versus UC on patients'psychological functioning;2) To evaluate whether relationship support, relationship intimacy, stress management skills, and intervention group support mediate changes in patient functioning. A secondary aim examines the impact of the interventions on role and social functioning and treatment adherence. An exploratory aim evaluates the impact of ECG versus SG and UC on partner and couple-level functioning and on partner's perception of relationship support, intimacy, stress management, and intervention group support.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Cancer Institute (NCI)
Type
Research Project (R01)
Project #
5R01CA078084-11
Application #
8301748
Study Section
Psychosocial Risk and Disease Prevention Study Section (PRDP)
Program Officer
Rowland, Julia
Project Start
1998-05-01
Project End
2014-07-31
Budget Start
2012-08-17
Budget End
2014-07-31
Support Year
11
Fiscal Year
2012
Total Cost
$269,966
Indirect Cost
$96,557
Name
Fox Chase Cancer Center
Department
Type
DUNS #
073724262
City
Philadelphia
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
19111
Manne, Sharon L; Siegel, Scott; Heckman, Carolyn J et al. (2015) Psychological distress as a mediator of the association between disease severity and occupational functioning among employed spouses of women recently diagnosed with breast cancer. Psychooncology 24:1560-8
Manne, Sharon L; Siegel, Scott; Kashy, Deborah et al. (2014) Cancer-specific Relationship Awareness, Relationship Communication, and Intimacy Among Couples Coping with Early Stage Breast Cancer. J Soc Pers Relat 31:314-334
Manne, Sharon; Kashy, Deborah A; Siegel, Scott et al. (2014) Unsupportive partner behaviors, social-cognitive processing, and psychological outcomes in couples coping with early stage breast cancer. J Fam Psychol 28:214-24
Fang, Carolyn Y; Longacre, Margaret L; Manne, Sharon L et al. (2012) Informational Needs of Head and Neck Cancer Patients. Health Technol (Berl) 2:57-62
Manne, Sharon; Winkel, Gary; Zaider, Talia et al. (2010) Therapy processes and outcomes of psychological interventions for women diagnosed with gynecological cancers: A test of the generic process model of psychotherapy. J Consult Clin Psychol 78:236-48
Manne, Sharon; Ostroff, Jamie; Fox, Kevin et al. (2009) Cognitive and social processes predicting partner psychological adaptation to early stage breast cancer. Br J Health Psychol 14:49-68
Manne, Sharon; Badr, Hoda (2008) Intimacy and relationship processes in couples'psychosocial adaptation to cancer. Cancer 112:2541-55
Manne, Sharon L; Ostroff, Jamie S; Norton, Tina R et al. (2006) Cancer-related relationship communication in couples coping with early stage breast cancer. Psychooncology 15:234-47
Manne, Sharon L; Ostroff, Jamie; Winkel, Gary et al. (2005) Partner unsupportive responses, avoidant coping, and distress among women with early stage breast cancer: patient and partner perspectives. Health Psychol 24:635-41
Manne, Sharon; Sherman, Marne; Ross, Stephanie et al. (2004) Couples' support-related communication, psychological distress, and relationship satisfaction among women with early stage breast cancer. J Consult Clin Psychol 72:660-70

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