Health Benefits of Expressive Writing: Study One (Komen)

University of Houston

Status: Completed

Conditions: Breast Cancer; Breast Neoplasm

Treatments: Behavioral: Self-Regulation Condition; Behavioral: Emotional Disclosure Condition

Study type: Interventional

Funder types: Other

Identifiers

NCT03546673

09021-02

Details and patient eligibility

About

This study is a randomized controlled trial (RCT) with the aim of determining the cultural sensitivity, feasibility, and effectiveness of an expressive writing intervention for Chinese breast cancer survivors.

Full description

The study examines the potential health benefits (i.e., physical health, psychological health, and quality of life) of this expressive writing intervention for Chinese-speaking breast cancer survivors. The study also explores the mechanism through which expressive writing confers health benefits and investigates who will benefit most from the expressive writing intervention. Chinese-speaking breast cancer survivors who have completed primary treatment will be randomly assigned to a control writing condition, a self-regulation condition, or an emotional disclosure writing condition. Health outcomes are assessed at baseline, and 1, 3, and 6 months follow-ups. Mixed qualitative-quantitative mixed methods are used to explore the effect of the intervention on health outcomes and explore the mechanisms that explain the benefits of this intervention.

Enrollment: 96 patients

Sex: Female

Ages: 18+ years old

Volunteers: No Healthy Volunteers

Inclusion and exclusion criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

• 1. having a breast cancer diagnosis
• 2. completing primary medical treatment within four years
• 3. being comfortable writing and speaking Chinese (i.e. Mandarin or Cantonese)

Trial design

Primary purpose: Supportive Care

Allocation: Randomized

Interventional model: Parallel Assignment

Masking: Triple Blind

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96 participants in 3 patient groups

Control Condition

No Intervention group

Description:

Participants in the control group were asked to write for three weeks about facts regarding their cancer and its treatment for three sessions.

Self-regulation Condition

Experimental group

Description:

For the self-regulation condition, each weekly writing assignment covers a different task. During session one, participants will be asked to write about their deepest feelings and thoughts regarding their experience with breast cancer as well as its impact on their lives; in session two, participants will be asked to write about their coping strategies to deal with stressors associated with the cancer diagnosis and treatment, as well as future plans for coping with cancer-related stressors; and in session three, participants will be asked to write about positive thoughts and feelings regarding their experience with breast cancer.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Self-Regulation Condition

Emotional Disclosure condition

Experimental group

Description:

For the emotional disclosure condition, participants were asked to write about their deepest thoughts and feelings about their cancer experience for three weeks.

Treatment:

Behavioral: Emotional Disclosure Condition