OBJECTIVES:
* Assess expression of emotion, as a function of patient presence, among spousal or other cohabiting caregivers (CG) of post-hematopoietic stem cell transplantation patients.
* Assess desynchrony among subjective (self-report) and expressive indicators of emotion, as a function of patient presence, in these participants.
* Correlate CG dispositional inhibition and desynchrony with physical and marital satisfaction in these participants.
OUTLINE: Caregivers (CG) complete written questionnaires assessing demographics, positive and negative affect, dispositional inhibition, marital satisfaction, and physical health over 45 minutes to 1 hour on day 1. CG then engage in two oral emotional expression exercises (on the topic of caregiving and the transplant) over 2 hours on day 2. Patients are present for one oral emotional expression exercise.
Participants are followed at 2 weeks and 6 months.
PROJECTED ACCRUAL: A total of 60 patient/spouse couples will be accrued for this study within 18 months.
