title: Couplelinks - an online intervention for young women with breast cancer and their male partners: study protocol for a randomized controlled trial.
abstract: BACKGROUND
  Young breast cancer survivors (aged 50 years and under) and their partners are at an elevated risk for relationship distress and poor psychological adjustment relative to older age couples. Limited availability of time and resources and the distance to travel are major barriers to engaging in evidence-based psychosocial support programs. This paper describes the study protocol of a novel, manualized online intervention called Couplelinks that was developed to improve relationship adjustment and psychological wellbeing of young couples affected by breast cancer. Couplelinks is a custom-designed website offering a professionally facilitated, couple-centered intervention that entails informational, experiential, and interactive components.
  
  
  METHODS
  A total of 80 heterosexual couples from across Canada in which the female partner has been diagnosed with a primary breast cancer will be recruited and randomized to a treatment or waitlist control group. Six dyadic learning modules form the core of the program and will be undertaken on a weekly basis. The manualized online intervention involves psycho-education and experiential exercises to enhance communication, coping ability, mutual empathy, and perspective-taking in relation to cancer. An online facilitator who is a trained mental health professional will guide and support couples throughout the process. Data collection will occur at baseline, at post-treatment or eight weeks into the waiting period, and at the three-month follow-up assessment. Primary outcome measures include the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Survey (RDAS) and Dyadic Coping Inventory (DCI) scores, and secondary outcome measures include the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Survey (HADS) score.
  
  
  CONCLUSIONS
  Couplelinks is one of the first internet-based psychological interventions to improve the psychosocial adjustment of couples coping with a life-threatening illness such as cancer. If successful, the design of this program as described in this paper makes a valuable contribution to the literature on the delivery of couple-focused psychosocial interventions, both within and outside of oncology.
  
  
  BACKGROUND
  This trial was registered with ClinicalTrials.gov (identifier: NCT01089764 ) on 17 March 2010.
authors: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada. kfergus@yorku.ca.|Patient and Family Support Program, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada. kfergus@yorku.ca.
authors: Karen
authors: K
authors: Fergus
authors: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada. saunia.ahmad@sunnybrook.ca.|Patient and Family Support Program, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada. saunia.ahmad@sunnybrook.ca.
authors: Saunia
authors: S
authors: Ahmad
authors: Cancer Program, Queen Elizabeth II Health Sciences Centre, Victoria 11-006, 1276 South Park Street, Halifax, Nova Scotia, B3H 2Y9, Canada. deborahL.McLeod@cdha.nshealth.ca.
authors: Deborah L
authors: DL
authors: McLeod
authors: Department of Oncology, Faculty of Medicine, Cumming School of Medicine, Health Sciences Centre, University of Calgary, 3330 Hospital Drive NW, Calgary, Alberta, T2N 4N1, Canada. joanne.stephen@albertahealthservices.ca.
authors: Joanne
authors: J
authors: Stephen
authors: Ontario HIV Treatment Network, 1300 Yonge Street, Toronto, Ontario, M4T 1X3, Canada. sandra.gardner@utoronto.ca.|Dalla Lana School of Public Health, University of Toronto, 155 College Street, Toronto, Ontario, M5T 3M7, Canada. sandra.gardner@utoronto.ca.
authors: Sandra
authors: S
authors: Gardner
authors: Department of Psychology, Faculty of Health, York University, 4700 Keele Street, Toronto, Ontario, M3J 1P3, Canada. amanda.pereira@sunnybrook.ca.
authors: Amanda
authors: A
authors: Pereira
authors: Division of Medical Oncology, Odette Cancer Centre, Sunnybrook Health Sciences Centre, 2075 Bayview Avenue, Toronto, Ontario, M4N 3M5, Canada. ellen.warner@sunnybrook.ca.
authors: Ellen
authors: E
authors: Warner
authors: Dr. Wendy Carter, 7 Admiral Road, Coach House, Toronto, Ontario, M5R 2L4, Canada. wendy.carter@utoronto.ca.
authors: Wendy
authors: W
authors: Carter
mesh_terms: D000223:Adaptation, Psychological; D000328:Adult; D001943:Breast Neoplasms / Q000523:psychology*; D002985:Clinical Protocols; D005260:Female; D006801:Humans; D020407:Internet; D008297:Male; D008875:Middle Aged; D018401:Sample Size; D012747:Sexual Partners
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