Expressive Writing and Adjustment to Metastatic Breast Cancer

Completed

Conditions studied: Metastatic Breast Cancer

In brief

We are doing this study to see if writing about life experiences helps women adjust to breast cancer that has spread. We will compare two groups. One group will write about their breast cancer experience. The other will write about their daily activities. What we learn from this study may help us to find new ways to help women cope with breast cancer that has spread.

Key facts

Study ID

NCT00624156

Run by

Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center

People needed

98

Starts

2008-02-01

Expected to finish

2012-01-01

Last updated by the study team

2015-10-30

Who can join

Age: 18 and older. Sex: female. Healthy volunteers: not accepted.

You may qualify if…

• Women with Stage IV breast cancer
• Receiving cancer care at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
• At least 18 years of age
• Can speak, read, and write in English
• In the judgment of consenting professionals able to provide informed consent
• Score of 4 or higher on the distress thermometer (established cutoff score for probable distress; see Jacobsen et al., 2005)

You may not qualify if…

• Significant psychiatric or cognitive impairment (dementia/delirium, retardation, psychosis) that in the judgment of the investigators will preclude providing informed consent and participating in the intervention
• Currently engaging in expressive writing (e.g., journal writing that involves expressing one's feelings) on a daily basis
• Currently participating in intervention trials with similar endpoints • Male

Where it is running

• Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center — New York, New York, United States

Full record on ClinicalTrials.gov

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