Title
Effects of a brief intervention program for patients with cancer and their partners on feelings of inequity, relationship quality and psychological distress
Author
Kuijer, R.G.
Buunk, B.P.
de Jong, G.M.
Ybema, J.F.
Sanderman, R.
Publication year
2004
Abstract
When one member of a couple develops a serious illness, the lives of both partners are likely to be affected. Interventions directed at both partners are generally lacking, however. In the present study, a brief counseling program directed at couples confronted with cancer was evaluated. The intervention focused mainly on the exchange of social support and help between both partners and was aimed at restoring perceptions of equity. Couples were randomly assigned to an experimental group or a waiting-list group. After the intervention, both patients and their partners reported lower levels of perceptions of underinvestment and overbenefit, and higher levels of relationship quality. Moreover, among patients psychological distress decreased after the intervention. These effects were generally maintained until follow-up three months later. Associations between perceptions of equity and relationship quality and psychological distress were also examined. Copyright © 2003 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.
Subject
Workplace
Veilig en Gezond Werken
Cancer patient
Clinical article
Clinical trial
Controlled clinical trial
Controlled study
Correlation analysis
Distress syndrome
Emotionality
Follow up
Health program
Human relation
Marital therapy
Patient counseling
Perception
Randomized controlled trial
Treatment outcome
Adult
Counseling
Family Health
Female
Humans
Interpersonal Relations
Intervention Studies
Male
Middle Aged
Neoplasms
Social Support
Stress, Psychological
Waiting Lists
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DOI
https://doi.org/10.1002/pon.749
TNO identifier
237736
ISSN
1057-9249
Source
Psycho-Oncology, 13 (5), 321-334
Document type
article