A randomized, controlled trial of emotional disclosure in rheumatoid arthritis: can clinician assistance enhance the effects?

Emotional disclosure by writing or talking about stressful life experiences improves health status in non-clinical populations, but its success in clinical populations, particularly rheumatoid arthritis (RA), has been mixed. In this randomized, controlled trial, we attempted to increase the efficacy of emotional disclosure by having a trained clinician help patients emotionally disclose and process stressful experiences. We randomized 98 adults with RA to one of four conditions: (a) private verbal emotional disclosure; (b) clinician-assisted verbal emotional disclosure; (c) arthritis information control (all of which engaged in four, 30-min laboratory sessions); or (d) no-treatment, standard care only control group. Outcome measures (pain, disability, affect, stress) were assessed at baseline, 2 months following treatment (2-month follow-up), and at 5-month, and 15-month follow-ups. A manipulation check demonstrated that, as expected, both types of emotional disclosure led to immediate (post-session) increases in negative affect compared with arthritis information. Outcome analyses at all three follow-ups revealed no clear pattern of effects for either clinician-assisted or private emotional disclosure compared with the two control groups. There were some benefits in terms of a reduction in pain behavior with private disclosure vs. clinician-assisted disclosure at the 2-month follow-up, but no other significant between group differences. We conclude that verbal emotional disclosure about stressful experiences, whether conducted privately or assisted by a clinician, has little or no benefit for people with RA.

Partner-guided cancer pain management at the end of life: a preliminary study.

This preliminary study tested the efficacy of a partner-guided cancer pain management protocol for patients who are at the end of life. Seventy-eight advanced cancer patients meeting criteria for hospice eligibility and their partners were randomly assigned to a partner-guided pain management training intervention, or usual care control condition. The partner-guided pain management training protocol was a three-session intervention conducted in patients' homes that integrated educational information about cancer pain with systematic training of patients and partners in cognitive and behavioral pain coping skills. Data analyses revealed that the partner-guided pain management protocol produced significant increases in partners' ratings of their self-efficacy for helping the patient control pain and self-efficacy for controlling other symptoms. Partners receiving this training also showed a trend to report improvements in their levels of caregiver strain. Overall, the results of this preliminary study suggest that a partner-guided pain management protocol may have benefits in the context of cancer pain at the end of life. Given the significance of pain at the end of life, future research in this area appears warranted.

The self-efficacy of family caregivers for helping cancer patients manage pain at end-of-life.

This preliminary study examined the self-efficacy of family caregivers with regard to helping cancer patients manage pain at end of life. A sample of 63 family caregivers of hospice-eligible cancer patients with pain provided ratings of their self-efficacy in assisting the patient in pain management and rated their own mood and level of caregiver strain. Patients completed measures of pain and quality of life. Data analyses revealed that caregivers who rated their self-efficacy as high reported much lower levels of caregiver strain as well as decreased negative mood and increased positive mood. Caregiver self-efficacy in managing the patient's pain was related to the patient's physical well-being. In dyads where the caregiver reported high self-efficacy, the patient reported having more energy, feeling less ill, and spending less time in bed. Considered overall, the results of this study suggest that caregiver self-efficacy in pain management is important in understanding how caregivers adjust to the demands of caring for cancer patients who have pain at the end of life.