Trial reportThe oncologist2025
Supporting patients with advanced cancer and their spouses in parenting minor children: results of a randomized controlled trial.
Trial report in The oncologist, 2025. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 6 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled 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.
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.
Who cites it
6 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it.
- Nonpharmacologic interventions for managing distress, anxiety, and depression for patients with cancer and their family caregivers: A systematic review and meta-analysis.CA: a cancer journal for cliniciansPooled it
- Psychosocial interventions to support parenting among parents with cancer: A scoping review.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2026Review
- Dyadic Coping and Illness Uncertainty in Cancer Patient-Caregiver Dyads: Interactive Mechanisms, Heterogeneity, and Integrated Intervention Directions-A Narrative Review (2021-2025).Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Evaluating the quality, reliability and readability of digital and artificial intelligence resources for adults with cancer who have significant caregiving responsibilities for children.PLOS digital health · 2026Article
- Categorical characteristics of parenting concerns and their influencing factors in young and middle-aged breast cancer patients: a latent profile analysis.Scientific reports · 2026Article
- Navigating parenthood and a partner's terminal cancer: subgroup analysis of the course of psychological distress within a comprehensive support program for families with parental cancer (Family-SCOUT).Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
Corrections and comments
PubMed lists nothing against this paper. Absence here is not a guarantee, only a check that was made.
Authors and funding
10 authors.
Funding
Abstract
introductionPatients with advanced cancer and their spousal caregivers who parent minor children report unmet parenting concerns and increased psychological distress. Seeking to address these important supportive care needs, this RCT examined the feasibility, acceptability, and initial evidence for the efficacy of a novel psychosocial intervention. PATIENTS AND
methodsPatients with a metastatic solid malignancy and their spouses completed self-reported validated assessments of psychological symptoms and cancer-related parenting outcomes and were then randomized to the parent support intervention or a usual care (UC) group. Both groups were reassessed 6 and 12 weeks later. Dyads randomized to the counselor-led intervention attended the first 2 sessions jointly addressing illness communication and family routines. Spouses individually attended the last 2 sessions focusing on caregiver support and family death preparedness.
resultsFifty patients and their spouses were randomized. All a priori feasibility benchmarks were met. Attendance in the intervention arm was high with 84% of caregivers attending all 4 sessions (mean = 3.48). The program was evaluated favorably by all patients and spouses deeming the intervention as beneficial. Caregivers rated the individual-level sessions as particularly helpful. Multilevel analyses revealed a significant reduction in anxiety symptoms (P = .05) and improvement in parenting efficacy (P = .03) at 6-week follow-up in the intervention group compared with UC.
conclusionsThe initial testing of our parent support intervention yielded promising results regarding feasibility and preliminary evidence for efficacy for reduced anxiety symptoms and improved parenting efficacy. This program may meet a frequent and distressing psychosocial need that is typically unaddressed by multidisciplinary oncology teams.
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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.