Clinical trial · Interventional
Acceptance and Commitment Therapy in Improving Well-Being in Patients With Stage III-IV Cancer and Their Partners
Couple-Focused ACT Intervention for Couples Coping With Cancer: A Pilot Study
NCT03112668CI-TRIAL-00051126completedN/AClinicalTrials.gov clinicaltrialsProvenance
- Source
- ClinicalTrials.gov
- Retrieved
- Sep 8, 2026
- Layer
- normalized (units and labels harmonized; values unchanged)
- Run
- ING-CLINICALTRIALS-20260908-000001
Summary
Brief summary (as posted)
This pilot clinical trial studies how well acceptance and commitment therapy works in improving well-being in patients with stage III-IV cancer and their partners. Learning how to accept negative thoughts and feelings and how to live in the present without worrying about the future or past may improve coping skills in patients with stage III-IV cancer and their partners.
Conditions
Conditions (39)
Free-text conditions as registered, with the CancerIndex entity they were reconciled to and the match type.
| Condition (as posted) | Mapped entity | Match | Confidence |
|---|---|---|---|
| Malignant Female Reproductive System Neoplasm | Malignant Female Reproductive System Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.98 |
| Malignant Hepatobiliary Neoplasm | Malignant Hepatobiliary Neoplasm | ONTOLOGY_EXACT | 0.98 |
| Partner | — | UNRESOLVED | — |
| Stage IIIA Breast Cancer | Malignant Breast Neoplasm | CURATED_BROADER | 0.78 |
| Stage IIIA Cervical Cancer | Malignant Cervical Neoplasm | CURATED_BROADER | 0.78 |
| Stage IIIA Colorectal Cancer | Malignant Colorectal Neoplasm | CURATED_BROADER | 0.80 |
| Stage IIIA Lung Carcinoma | Lung Carcinoma | CURATED_BROADER | 0.78 |
| Stage IIIA Skin Melanoma | Cutaneous Melanoma | CURATED_BROADER | 0.78 |
| Stage IIIA Uterine Corpus Cancer |
Interventions
Interventions (4)
| Intervention | Type | Mapped drug | Match |
|---|---|---|---|
| Cognitive Behavior Therapy | Behavioral | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Quality-of-Life Assessment | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Questionnaire Administration | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
| Survey Administration | Other | — | UNRESOLVED |
Design
Arms and outcomes
Arms (1)
- type
- EXPERIMENTAL
- label
- Supportive Care (ACT)
- description
- Patients and their partners attend 6 weekly ACT sessions over 60-75 minutes. Couples learn skills of acceptance, avoidance, awareness, values and committed action, mindfulness and values in relationships, and handling persistent worries and concerns. Patients and their partners also do homework assignment after each session.
- interventionNames
- Behavioral: Cognitive Behavior Therapy
- Other: Quality-of-Life Assessment
- Other: Questionnaire Administration
- Other: Survey Administration
Primary outcomes (6)
- measure
- Change in acceptance as measured by the COPE acceptance subscale
- timeFrame
- Baseline to 1-week post intervention
- description
- Pre-post changes will be examined using t-tests in the primary outcomes as well as the mechanisms of change (e.g., flexibility, avoidance self-disclosure). Because this is primarily a pilot and feasibility study and not an efficacy test, these data will be used primarily to examine whether an impact on distress and well-being was made but statistical significance will not be the primary aim.
Eligibility
Eligibility (as posted)
- Sex
- All
- Minimum age
- 18 Years
Show eligibility criteria text
Inclusion Criteria: * Diagnosed with stage 3 or 4 breast, cervical, colorectal, endometrial, hepatobiliary, lung, melanoma, gynecological, prostate cancer in the past six months * Married or cohabiting with a significant other of either gender for more than one year * At the time of recruitment, a life expectancy of greater than 6 months and/or a Karnofsky performance status of 80 or above or an Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group (ECOG) score of 0 or 1 * English speaking * No significant hearing impairment that would prevent participation in sessions * Live within a 1 hour commuting distance from Rutgers Cancer Institute of New Jersey Exclusion Criteria: * Partner cannot have cancer diagnosis (other than non-melanoma skin cancer) and be currently receiving treatment
References
Publications (0)
Data not yet available
No reference posted for this study.