An interventional study of Behavioral Counseling and Discussion in Advanced Malignant Solid Neoplasm, sponsored by Mayo Clinic. Enrolling by invitation at 2 sites in United States. Open to participants aged 18 Years and older, including healthy volunteers. Per ClinicalTrials.gov, last updated 2026-08-07.
Sponsored by Mayo Clinic · Not applicable, Interventional, and Supportive care
This clinical trial assesses the acceptability and feasibility of a virtual group Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Cancer Caregivers (MCP-C) and its effect in improving the wellbeing of caregivers of patients with advanced cancer or a serious life-limiting illness. Caregivers often suffer from significant existential distress, which includes feelings of hopelessness, demoralization, burden, loss of meaning and dignity, and a decreased will to live. MCP-C seeks to help caregivers connect to meaning and purpose despite the challenges of caregiving and helps caregivers understand how sources of meaning may help with symptoms of burden and reduce despair. Participating in MCP-C may help improve sense of personal meaning, spiritual well-being, and mood in caregivers of patients with advanced cancer or a serious life-limiting illness.
PRIMARY OBJECTIVES:
I. Determine feasibility as measured by total number of caregivers enrolled in 2 years (modification to extend study another year), adherence (75% of the enrolled participants will complete at least 6 of the 8 MCP groups).
II. Determine acceptability as measured by satisfaction with the research process, as measured by the Was It Worth It (WiWi 2.0) questionnaire.
III. To evaluate preliminary efficacy of group MCP-C for personal meaning as measured by Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R), spiritual wellbeing as measured by Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy (FACIT) Spiritual Well-Being Scale (SWBS), depression and anxiety symptoms as measured by Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS), meaning in caregiving as measured by Attitudes Towards Caregiving Scale (ATCS), social support as measured by Duke-University of North Carolina (UNC) Functional Social Support Questionnaire (FSSQ), benefit finding as measured by Benefit Finding Scale (BFS).
IV. Determine participants' perceptions of their experience with the intervention, including potential benefits they experienced, which components had the greatest impact, and whether they would suggest any changes to the intervention.
OUTLINE:
Caregivers participate in MCP-C virtual group discussion sessions over 90 minutes each and complete reading exercises and workbook assignments once weekly for 8 weeks throughout the study.
After completion of study intervention, caregivers are followed up at 2 months.
Mayo Clinic is the lead sponsor of 3,218 studies on the registry; 670 are open to participants now.
Of its 445 completed or terminated interventional studies of FDA-regulated products, 313 (70%) have results posted.
Counted across the registry records on this site, refreshed daily.
Exclusion Criteria:
Caregivers participate in MCP-C virtual group discussion sessions over 90 minutes each and complete reading exercises and workbook assignments once weekly for 8 weeks throughout the study.
Behavioral: Behavioral Counseling · Other: Discussion · Other: Health Promotion and Education · Other: Interview · Other: Questionnaire Administration
Participate in MCP-C
Also known as: Behavior Counseling, Behavioral Psychotherapy
Participate in virtual group discussions
Also known as: Discuss
Receive reading exercises and workbook materials
Ancillary studies
Ancillary studies
Feasibility of Meaning-Centered Psychotherapy for Caregivers (MCP-C) intervention
Feasibility will be measured by numbers and percentages of participant recruitment, enrollment, accrual, and retention of participants in the MCP-C intervention. Findings will be summarized using estimates and corresponding 95% confidence intervals.
Time frame: Up to 1 year
Acceptability of MCP-C intervention
Acceptability will be measured by the Was It Worth It (WIWI) Questionnaire. The WIWI consists of 7 questions, 3 answered with yes/no/uncertain, two answered on a 3-point scale (i.e., improved, stayed the same, or got worse), one open-ended/fill-in-the-blank question, and one yes/no question.
Time frame: 4 months (2 months post intervention)
Change in personal meaning - LAP-R
The Life Attitude Profile-Revised (LAP-R) is a 48-item scale that measures a person's life attitude and meaning in life. The LAP-R is scored on a 7-point Likert scale, with a minimum score of 30 and a maximum score of 210. A higher score indicates a greater sense of meaning in life and a more positive attitude towards life.
Time frame: Baseline, 8 weeks (post intervention), 4 months (2 months post intervention)
Change in spiritual well-being - FACIT-Sp-12
Spiritual well-being will be assessed using the Functional Assessment of Chronic Illness Therapy Spiritual Well-Being Scale (FACIT-Sp-12), a 12-item self-report measure with a total score range of 0-48, with higher scores indicating a greater level of spiritual well-being. items are answered on a scale of 0-4 where 0=Not at all, 1=A little bit, 2=Somewhat, 3=Quite a bit, and 4=Very much.
Time frame: Baseline, 8 weeks (post intervention), 4 months (2 months post intervention)
Changes in anxiety and depression - HADS
Change in anxiety and depression will be assessed using the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale (HADS). The HADS is a 14-item self-rated questionnaire with depression and anxiety subscales both ranging from 0 to 21, categorized as: normal 0-7, mild 8-10, moderate 11-14, and severe 15-21. Items are answered on a scale of 0-3 with varying responses for each question (e.g., very much/quite a lot/not very much/not at all or often/sometimes/not often/very seldom).
Time frame: Baseline, 8 weeks (post intervention), 4 months (2 months post intervention)
Change in attitude toward caregiving - ATCS
Change in attitude toward caregiving will be assessed using the Attitudes Towards Caregiving Scale ( ATCS), a 43-item 5-point Likert-type measure of ways caregivers find meaning through caregiving. The ATCS yields an overall (range 43-215) and three subscale \[loss/powerlessness (range 19-96), provisional meaning (range 19-96), and ultimate meaning (range 5-25)\] scores, with higher scores indicating higher overall meaning. Items are answered with one of 5 responses: strongly agree, agree, undecided, disagree, or strongly disagree.
Time frame: Baseline, 8 weeks (post intervention), 4 months (2 months post intervention)
Change in perception of social support - Duke-UNC FSSQ
Change in perception of social support will be assessed using the Duke/University of North Caroling (UNC) Functional Social Support Questionnaire (FSSQ), an 8-item measure of social support that generates a total score (range 0-44). Higher scores generally indicate a higher degree of satisfaction related to social support. Items are answered on a scale of 5-1 where 5=as much as I would like; 4=almost as much as I would like; 3=some, but would like more; 2=less than i would like, and 1=much less than I would like.
Time frame: Baseline, 8 weeks (post intervention), 4 months (2 months post intervention)
Change in benefit-finding - BFS
Change in perception of benefit will be assessed using the Benefit Finding Scale (BFS), a 17-item measure of perceived benefits adapted from Behr's Positive Contributions Scale for breast cancer, modified for caregiving. It yields a total score (range 17-85) with higher scores indicating greater benefit finding. Items are answered with one of 5 responses: not at all, a little bit, somewhat, quite a bit, or very much.
Time frame: Baseline, 8 weeks (post intervention), 4 months (2 months post intervention)
Change in Cancer Support Source Caregiver-18+ score
The Cancer Support Source-Caregiver (CSS-Caregiver) is an 18-item questionnaire used to assess demands of cancer caregiving. Participants rate items of concern on a scale of 0 (not at all) to 4 (very seriously). A higher score indicates an item is of greater concern. Higher overall scores indicate higher levels of stress.
Time frame: Baseline, 8 weeks (post intervention), 4 months (2 months post intervention)
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