Improving the Well‐Being of Couples Facing Cancer: A Review of Couples‐Based Psychosocial Interventions

Abstract

The purpose of this review article is to assess the available scientific evidence on the effects of couples-based psychosocial interventions for couples when one spouse faces cancer. For the present study, we conducted an extensive search of three electronic databases using a comprehensive search strategy. The literature search identified 14 studies evaluating couples intervention where one partner is facing cancer. Among them, eight studies concluded there was overall improvement for patients and eight studies reported overall improvement for partners, whereas an additional five studies showed partial improvement for patients and three demonstrated partial improvements for partners. Taken in the aggregate, these studies illustrated partial effectiveness--most had some positive results--but with clear limitations in terms of how many aspects of psychosocial well-being changed, lack of equal effectiveness for both patients and their partners, or limited maintenance of improvements over time, a common concern with brief psychosocial interventions. Although couples-based interventions may facilitate emotional support and dyadic coping, how these psychosocial interventions should be delivered, at what point in the illness and treatment they should be delivered, and how long they should continue remain as future challenges.

Psychological intervention with couples coping with breast cancer: A systematic review

“…The results presented in this review are in line with previous systematic reviews and meta-analysis that show that psychological interventions for couples coping with cancer and other chronic diseases produce benefits for both patients and their partners (Badr & Krebs, 2012;Baik & Adams, 2011;Hopkinson, Brown, Okamoto, & AddingtonHall, 2012). …”

Exploring the effectiveness of couples interventions for adults living with a chronic physical illness: A systematic review

“…The majority of existing couples interventions are among cancer populations. Such studies have demonstrated positive effects on physical, interpersonal, and emotional outcomes among couples living with cancer [27,28,29]. Other systematic review work exploring the benefits of couples interventions in coronary heart disease, has shown significant improvements on quality of life and blood pressure in patients, and depression in both patients and partners [30].…”

Intimate Relationships Affected by Breast Cancer: Interventions for Couples

“…Some reviews and meta-analyses report that these interventions are effective in improving individual and dyadic functioning and have beneficial effects on relationship quality and psychosocial adjustment, albeit with small to medium effect sizes [19,36,37]; others show heterogeneous evidence [38]. An often expressed critique is that the studies have only small sample sizes and are therefore underpowered to examine changes in the multiple outcomes measured, which results in only small to medium effect sizes [39]. For example, in a recent meta-analysis [19] with 20 randomized controlled trials, 9 studies included in the meta-analysis had 35 or less couples per group.…”