Musical activity diminishes negative symptoms and improves interpersonal contact. These positive effects of music therapy could increase the patient's abilities to adapt to the social environment in the community after discharge from the hospital.

Background Hematopoietic stem cell transplantation (HSCT) is an aggressive medical procedure which significantly impacts the shared emotional well-being of patients and family caregivers (FC). Prior work has highlighted the significant overlap in well-being among patients and FCs; however, how this interdependence may change over the course of HSCT has received less attention. Methods We conducted secondary analyses of a supportive intervention delivered to 154 FCs of HSCT patients and examined relationships at baseline, 6 weeks, 3 and 6 months post-HSCT. Actor Partner Interdependence Modeling examined patient quality of life (QOL) and FC anxiety/depression. Results The data did not fit a multigroup approach limiting our ability to test intervention effects; however, bivariate analyses indicated FC depression significantly correlated to patient QOL at baseline (r = − .32), 6 weeks (r = − .22) and 6 months post-HSCT (r = − .34; p’s < .05); whereas FC anxiety was only correlated with patient QOL at the first two timepoints (p’s < .05). There was an unexpected, partner effect such that worse patient QOL at 6-weeks significantly related to lower FC depression at 3-months (B = .193; p = .026) and changed direction with patient QOL at 3-months being related to more FC depression at 6-months (B = − .187; p = .001). Conclusions These findings highlight the significant, yet nuanced, interdependence of patient QOL and FC well-being during HSCT. Specifically, greater interdependence was observed between patient QOL and FC depression compared to FC anxiety, suggesting potential treatment targets for patients and their families. Trial was registered at ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier: NCT02037568; first registered: January 16, 2014; https://clinicaltrials.gov/ct2/show/NCT02037568

Purpose Physical activity is associated with improved health outcomes for cancer survivors and their romantic partners, yet it is unclear if joint exercise programs for survivor-partner dyads are acceptable. This study examined demographic, relationship, exercise, and cancer history correlates of survivors’ and their romantic partners’ couples-based exercise beliefs and their preferences for program designs. Methods All participants (survivors n =209, partners n =155, couples n =143) completed an online survey. Correlations and linear regression analyses were used to examine correlates of participants’ importance of and interest in couples-based exercise and their likelihood of joining a couples-based exercise program. Intraclass correlations estimated shared variance at the couple level. Results Most participants believed that couples-based exercise was highly important (51.8%) and were interested in a couples-based exercise program (61.5%), but fewer survivors believed their partner would be interested or would likely join a couples-based program. Across all outcomes, partner support for exercise was most strongly associated with participants’ couples-based exercise beliefs ( r = 0.19–0.54, p <.05), and couples were significantly aligned in their beliefs ( ρ =0.20–0.31, p <.01). Participants were interested in exercise programs involving exercising together (67.3%) as well as exercising separately while sharing activity data on an app or website (48.0%). Conclusions This novel understanding of couples-based exercise beliefs provides a strong foundation upon which future exercise programs may be designed for survivors and their romantic partners. Impact for Cancer Survivors Survivors’ adoption and maintenance of exercise may be enhanced by the inclusion of romantic partners in exercise programs, and partners’ inclusion is appealing to couples.

Background Younger breast cancer survivors face unique challenges, and research is needed to better understand how to optimize their quality of life (QoL) and satisfaction with life (SwL). Objective The aim of this study was to examine a biopsychosocial model of QoL and SwL in young breast cancer survivors. Biological, psychological, and social/practical factors were hypothesized to be associated with both distressing and adaptive reactions during survivorship, which in turn were hypothesized to be associated with QoL and SwL. Methods Young (age = 19-45 years at diagnosis) breast cancer survivors (N = 284) completed an online survey assessing demographic and biopsychosocial factors, QoL, and SwL. Latent variables were created for adaptive and distressing reactions, and structural equation modeling was used to test the hypothesized relationships. Results The model fit the data (χ2(100) = 332.92, P < .001, comparative fit index = 0.86, root mean square error of approximation = 0.09, standardized root mean square residual = 0.05) and accounted for large proportions of variance in QoL (R 2 = 0.86) and SwL (R 2 = 0.62). Social support, parenting concerns, and fertility concerns each significantly predicted adjustment. Adaptive reactions positively predicted SwL (β = 0.58, P < .001) but not QoL. Distressing reactions negatively predicted SwL (β = −0.26, P < .01) and QoL (β = −0.87, P < .001). Conclusions Adjustment in survivorship mediated the association of social support, parenting concerns, and fertility concerns on QoL and SwL in young breast cancer survivors. Implications for Practice To support the psychological adjustment of young breast cancer survivors, attention should be given to survivors' social context including survivors' available social support and their concerns about fertility and parenting.