The Effect of Emotional Disclosure Interventions on Psychological and Physical Well-Being of Breast Cancer Patients
Abstract
Breast cancer is the second leading cause of cancer death in women in the United States and thus it is important to study the psychosocial impact or treating this disease. A large body of literature supports the health benefits associated with both written and oral disclosure of emotional traumas in healthy populations. The proposed research is a controlled, randomized trial to test the effectiveness of two types of emotional disclosure interventions. Early stage newly diagnosed breast cancer patients are randomly assigned to one of three conditions: cancer-specific disclosure, non-cancer related disclosure, or a control. During the intervention, participants write on three occasions about either their deepest thoughts and feelings about their cancer diagnosis and treatment, their deepest thoughts and feelings about a non-cancer related traumatic event, or a superficial topic. Ninety-six women with breast cancer agreed to be in the study. Measures of physical and emotional well-being were collected via telephone at baseline, one month, and six months following the intervention. A five-month no-cost extension has been requested in order to complete the data analysis. Preliminary results will be presented at the DOD Era of Hope meeting in Orlando, FL on September 28, 2002.
Document Details
- Document Type
- Technical Report
- Publication Date
- Jul 01, 2002
- Accession Number
- ADA411782
Entities
People
- Elizabeth Fries
- Melissa I. Figueiredo
Organizations
- Virginia Commonwealth University