Spouses/Partners Expressing Their Thoughts After Transplant

Emotional Expression and Cancer Caregivers

This study seeks to test a brief psychological intervention for spousal caregivers of cancer patients (specifically, hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients), persons known to experience emotional distress.

This project focuses on spousal caregivers (CGs) of hematopoietic stem cell transplant survivors - persons known to report elevated levels of distress as compared to both norms and their patient counterparts. Specific Aims are to: (1) Determine, via experimental manipulation, whether or not CGs of hematopoietic stem cell transplant patients engage in protective buffering, a coping mechanism whereby partners shield patients from illness-related concerns or worries, (2) Examine synchrony or lack thereof, desynchrony, among subjective, expressive and biologic indicators of emotion among spousal CGs, and (3) Test the feasibility and implementation of an emotional expression (EE) exercise designed to enhance psychological and immune functioning among spousal CGs.

Inclusion Criteria:

• patients and partners at least 21 years of age
• patients and partners English speaking
• patients about to receive a hematopoietic stem cell transplant
• patients married or in a committed, cohabiting, heterosexual or homosexual relationship
• caregivers in a married or committed, cohabiting, heterosexual or homosexual relationship with the patient
• caregivers present at the transplant site and planning to remain so for at least one month

Exclusion Criteria:

• patient major psychiatric disorder
• caregiver presence or history of a neurologic disorder