Prolonged Grief in Young Bereaved Spouses and Partners - Full Text View

Purpose

The purpose of the research is to learn more about the experience of grief in young bereaved spouses/partners. Recent research has shown that young bereaved spouses/partners experience grief uniquely from other age groups, but it is still unclear how certain factors affect the experience of grief. The investigators research team is interested in studying how the psychological factors of trauma, personality, and meaning of the loss affect grief reactions in young spouses/partners after the loss of a spouse to cancer.

Condition	Intervention
Grief	Behavioral: in-person or telephone interview

MedlinePlus related topics:

Cancer

U.S. FDA Resources

Study Type:	Observational
Study Design:	Cohort, Prospective

Official Title:	Lost to Cancer: Prolonged Grief in Young Bereaved Spouses and Partners

Further study details as provided by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center:

Primary Outcome Measures:

To determine the rate and levels of prolonged grief in young bereaved spouses/partners of cancer patients [ Time Frame: conclusion of the study ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Secondary Outcome Measures:

To determine associations among prolonged grief, personality characteristics , previous trauma, & subjective meanings of the loss to the bereaved spouse in young bereaved spouses/partners of cancer [ Time Frame: conclusion of the study ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
To evaluate whether unique themes emerge among those reporting prolonged grief [ Time Frame: conclusion of the study ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]
To evaluate whether unique themes emerge among those reporting obsessive and histrionic personality traits [ Time Frame: conclusion of the study ] [ Designated as safety issue: No ]

Biospecimen Retention: None Retained

Biospecimen Description:

Estimated Enrollment:	100
Study Start Date:	August 2008
Estimated Study Completion Date:	August 2011
Estimated Primary Completion Date:	August 2011 (Final data collection date for primary outcome measure)

Groups/Cohorts	Assigned Interventions
1 Young spouses/domestic partners (20-49 years old) of cancer patients who have died from cancer.	Behavioral: in-person or telephone interview Participants will be administered one battery of questionnaires that should take 50- 55 minutes, which may be broken down into two or more segments if necessary. They may choose to have these questionnaires administered to them in person at the hospital, in person at their home, or via telephone by a trained master's level research assistant.

Eligibility

Ages Eligible for Study:	20 Years to 49 Years
Genders Eligible for Study:	Both
Accepts Healthy Volunteers:	Yes
Sampling Method:	Non-Probability Sample

Study Population

Only spouses/partners of deceased Calvary patients will be used in this study.

Criteria

Inclusion Criteria:

Participants must be at least 20 years old and no older than 49 years and 11 months old.
Participants must have lost a spouse/domestic partner to cancer 6 months to 3 years earlier.
Participants must be able to give informed consent.
Able to comprehend English to complete study assessments.

Exclusion Criteria:

Major psychopathology or cognitive impairment likely in the judgment of the research staff to interfere with the participation or completion of the protocol.

Contacts and Locations

Please refer to this study by its ClinicalTrials.gov identifier: NCT00745784

Contacts


Contact: Andrew Roth, MD		rotha@mskcc.org

Contact: Jimmie Holland, MD		hollandj@mskcc.org

Locations


United States, New York
	Calavery Hospital	Recruiting
	Bronx, New York, United States, 10462
	Contact: Sherry Schacter, MD
	Principal Investigator: Sherry Schacter, PhD

Sponsors and Collaborators

Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center

Calvary Hospital

Investigators


Principal Investigator:	Sherry Schacter, PhD	Calvary Hospital

More Information

Responsible Party:	Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center ( Andrew Roth, MD )
Study ID Numbers:	08-100
First Received:	September 2, 2008
Last Updated:	September 2, 2008
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00745784
Health Authority:	United States: Institutional Review Board

Keywords provided by Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center:

Young Bereaved Spouses

ClinicalTrials.gov processed this record on October 24, 2008

Sponsors and Collaborators:	Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center Calvary Hospital
Information provided by:	Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center
ClinicalTrials.gov Identifier:	NCT00745784