Evidence map›Paper›PMID 38446532›Full record

ArticlePsycho-oncology2024

Supporting the support person: Oncologists' roles in reducing support people's uncertainty and facilitating psychological adjustment.

Elizabeth Broadbridge, Maria K Venetis, Katie A Devine, Lauren E Lee, Smita C Banerjee, Kathryn Greene

Open access · hybridAbstract read
In one paragraph

Article in Psycho-oncology, 2024. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers.

0numbers the graph read from it
0cells of the map it votes in
6citing papers in PubMed
7.6field-weighted citation impact, top 3% of its field
1 · What the graph read from it

What it found

Each row is one number read from the abstract, on the scale the paper reported it, with its interval. Left of the dashed line favours the treatment, right favours the comparator. Under each row is the sentence it came from. New to these charts? A ten-minute tutorial.

The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.

2 · The registry

The trial behind it

Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.

Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.

3 · Its place in the literature

Who cites it

6 citing papers in PubMed, 9 citations in OpenAlex.

  1. Living WithJTO clinical and research reports · 2026
    Article
  2. Treatment experience of patients with failedFrontiers in public health · 2026
    Article
  3. Article
  4. Article
  5. Review
  6. Article
4 · The record

Corrections and comments

PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.

5 · Who and what money

Authors and funding

6 authors at 2 institutions in 1 country.

Elizabeth BroadbridgeDepartment of Communication, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.ORCID 0000-0003-4121-3697
Maria K VenetisDepartment of Communication, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6710-1776
Katie A DevineDivision of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology, Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-1003-8905
Lauren E LeeDepartment of Communication, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-6579-7466
Smita C BanerjeePsychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, New York, New York, USA.ORCID 0000-0001-5479-5978
Kathryn GreeneDepartment of Communication, Rutgers University, New Brunswick, New Jersey, USA.ORCID 0000-0002-3362-4982
Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey · USMemorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center · US

Funding

X-RAY CRYSTALLOGRAPHYP30CA008748 · NCI · SLOAN-KETTERING INSTITUTE FOR CANCER RES · PI SELWYN M VICKERS · 1985 to 2026
$347.4M
NCI NIH HHS P30 CA008748
6 · The paper itself

Abstract

objectiveSupport people of cancer patients are at significant risk for psychological distress. Additionally, cancer patients' well-being is reciprocally associated with support peoples' psychological well-being. Informed by Uncertainty in Illness Theory, this study tests whether support person psychological well-being is influenced by provider communication and uncertainty reduction.

methodsWe tested a multiple mediation model to investigate how empathic communication facilitates psychological adjustment in support people of cancer patients and how this process is mediated by support peoples' illness uncertainty and caregiver burden. Support people of cancer patients (N = 121; including spouses, adult children, etc.) completed an online questionnaire about their perceptions of oncologists' empathy, uncertainty about the cancer patients' illness, perceived caregiving burden, and their psychological adjustment to diagnoses.

resultsPath analysis revealed that (1) more perceived oncologist empathy was associated with less illness uncertainty, (2) more illness uncertainty was associated with worse psychological adjustment and more perceived caregiver burden, and (3) more burden was associated with worse adjustment (χ

conclusionsGiven the reciprocal nature of well-being between cancer patients and their support people, it is critical to understand and bolster support people's psychological well-being. Results demonstrated how empathic provider communication can support psychological well-being for support people of cancer patients. Additionally, this study offers theoretical contributions to understandings of illness uncertainty in caregiver populations.

Indexed as

NeoplasmsOncologistsAdultAdult ChildrenEmotional AdjustmentHumansUncertaintycancercaregivercommunicationpsychological well-beingpsycho-oncologyuncertainty

Identifiers

PMID38446532
PMCPMC11046424
OpenAlexW4392519600

What OpenQuestion holds

Textmetadata
LicenceCC BY-NC-ND
Read underepoch 390

Registered trials

None linked

Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.