Trial of Inquiry Based Stress Reduction (IBSR) Program for BRCA1/2 Mutation Carriers

Primary goal: to evaluate the effectiveness of IBSR intervention on psychological well-being of BRCA carriers. Secondary goals: * To understand the IBSR action mechanism and to develop a theoretical model. * To examine the correlation between psychological well-being and optimism and health behaviors among carriers. * To evaluate and define core beliefs related to psychological well-being, optimism and expectations among carriers. * To evaluate and define the health related behaviors among carriers. Rationale for studies: The rationale of the research emerges from two aspects. One aspect is the effort to establish a new intervention program for women in order to help them deal with the daily implications of being a BRCA carrier. Up to date, only few interventions were carried out in Israel and worldwide, and had several methodological limitations. The other aspect is the combination of quantitative and qualitative tools in order to analyze the psychological implications of a complicated medical state and to establish an intervention program in order to reduce their adverse impact. This combination can significantly contribute to the understanding of the investigated issue and the participants' experience. The current research is comprehensive and rigorous, and it is based on a randomized controlled study, which was carried out with 118 Israeli women. Research plan and milestones: Research Design: A randomized controlled study offering IBSR intervention for BRCA carriers. Research sample: 118 asymptomatic BRCA1/2 carriers, being followed-up in the high-risk clinic at Sheba hospital and meet the inclusion criteria: asymptomatic carriers of BRCA1/2 mutation, level of Hebrew, age group and psychiatric illness. Age: 25-55 Intervention group: 59 carriers who will participate in a 8-12 sessions (up to 48 hours) group workshop of IBSR. Control group: 59 carriers who will not participate in the workshop. They will complete questionnaires on the same time points as the intervention group. Participants who completed all the questionnaires will receive an IBSR kit for home practice. Research outcomes: psychological well-being, optimism, satisfaction with life, mental well-being, quality of sleep health behaviors and perceptions. In addition, the main themes from the qualitative interviews.