Emotional Support Messages Following a Cancer Diagnosis

Completed

• Conditions: Psychological Stress; Anxiety
• Interventions: Behavioral: Questionnaire 1a; Behavioral: Questionnaire 1b; Behavioral: Questionnaire 2a; Behavioral: Questionnaire 2b; Behavioral: Questionnaire 3a; Behavioral: Questionnaire 3b; Behavioral: Questionnaire 4a; Behavioral: Questionnaire 4b

• Registration Number: NCT03840109
• Lead Sponsor: H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute

Brief Summary

Cancer patients will be randomly shown one of 18 emotional support messages created by the research team that differ based on how much of the message consists of positive statements and how much consists of negative statements. The messages with negative statements also differ based on whether the negative statements occur at the start or end of the message. After viewing the message, participants have the opportunity to rate the effectiveness of the message, to what extent the message made them feel better, and to what extent the message affects how they view the message provider as a useful source of emotional support.

Detailed Description

Not available

Study Timeline

• Study Start: 2019-01-30
• Study First Submitted: 2019-02-11
• Study First Submitted QC: 2019-02-12
• Study First Posted: 2019-02-15
• Primary Completion: 2019-05-10
• Status Verified: 2020-11
• Study Completion: 2020-11-24
• Last Update Submitted: 2020-11-24
• Last Update Posted: 2020-11-25

Recruitment & Eligibility

• Status: COMPLETED
• Sex: All
• Target Recruitment: 417

Inclusion Criteria

• Participants must be 18 years of age or older
• Participants with a diagnosis of breast, prostate, thoracic or digestive cancer in the past 3 years
• Participants consented to Moffitt's Total Cancer Care (TCC) protocol and indicating a willingness to be contacted for future research by including an email contact.
• Ability to read and write fluently in English

Exclusion Criteria

Not provided

Study & Design

• Study Type: OBSERVATIONAL
• Study Design: Not specified

Arm && Interventions

Group	Intervention	Description
All Participants	Questionnaire 1b	All participants will take an online questionnaire which includes their evaluation of one of 18 different emotional support messages randomly assigned through the Qualtrics survey system. The participants answer a series of closed ended scales regarding quality of the support message, supporter's competence, amount of emotional improvement they experienced after reading the message, and likelihood to seek support from the person writing the message.
All Participants	Questionnaire 3a	All participants will take an online questionnaire which includes their evaluation of one of 18 different emotional support messages randomly assigned through the Qualtrics survey system. The participants answer a series of closed ended scales regarding quality of the support message, supporter's competence, amount of emotional improvement they experienced after reading the message, and likelihood to seek support from the person writing the message.
All Participants	Questionnaire 2a	All participants will take an online questionnaire which includes their evaluation of one of 18 different emotional support messages randomly assigned through the Qualtrics survey system. The participants answer a series of closed ended scales regarding quality of the support message, supporter's competence, amount of emotional improvement they experienced after reading the message, and likelihood to seek support from the person writing the message.
All Participants	Questionnaire 1a	All participants will take an online questionnaire which includes their evaluation of one of 18 different emotional support messages randomly assigned through the Qualtrics survey system. The participants answer a series of closed ended scales regarding quality of the support message, supporter's competence, amount of emotional improvement they experienced after reading the message, and likelihood to seek support from the person writing the message.
All Participants	Questionnaire 2b	All participants will take an online questionnaire which includes their evaluation of one of 18 different emotional support messages randomly assigned through the Qualtrics survey system. The participants answer a series of closed ended scales regarding quality of the support message, supporter's competence, amount of emotional improvement they experienced after reading the message, and likelihood to seek support from the person writing the message.
All Participants	Questionnaire 3b	All participants will take an online questionnaire which includes their evaluation of one of 18 different emotional support messages randomly assigned through the Qualtrics survey system. The participants answer a series of closed ended scales regarding quality of the support message, supporter's competence, amount of emotional improvement they experienced after reading the message, and likelihood to seek support from the person writing the message.
All Participants	Questionnaire 4a	All participants will take an online questionnaire which includes their evaluation of one of 18 different emotional support messages randomly assigned through the Qualtrics survey system. The participants answer a series of closed ended scales regarding quality of the support message, supporter's competence, amount of emotional improvement they experienced after reading the message, and likelihood to seek support from the person writing the message.
All Participants	Questionnaire 4b	All participants will take an online questionnaire which includes their evaluation of one of 18 different emotional support messages randomly assigned through the Qualtrics survey system. The participants answer a series of closed ended scales regarding quality of the support message, supporter's competence, amount of emotional improvement they experienced after reading the message, and likelihood to seek support from the person writing the message.

Primary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Message Effectiveness Scale	Through study completion, up to 1 year	Perceptions of message effectiveness will be tested through 4 ANOVA models that will test for differences between participants who received different messages in terms of perceived message effectiveness.
Affective Improvement Scale	Through study completion, up to 1 year	Perceptions of message effectiveness will be tested through 4 ANOVA models that will test for differences between participants who received different messages in terms of self-reports of emotional improvement.

Secondary Outcome Measures

Name	Time	Method
Supporter Competence Scale	Through study completion, up to 1 year	Perceptions of message effectiveness will be tested through 4 ANOVA models that will test for differences between participants who received different messages in terms of perceptions of supporter competence.
Likelihood of Seeking Support Scale	Through study completion, up to 1 year	Perceptions of message effectiveness will be tested through 4 ANOVA models that will test for differences between participants who received different messages in terms of their likelihood to seek support from the supporter in the future.

Trial Locations

Locations (1)

H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center and Research Institute; 🇺🇸 Tampa, Florida, United States