newly diagnosed breast cancer patients receiving the peer support program at the beginning of their medical treatment.

newly diagnosed breast cancer patients receiving the social peer support program at the end of their medical treatment.

The intervention will consist of 8 face-to-face peer social support sessions conducted by volunteers diagnosed with breast cancer who have finished their medical treatment (chemotherapy, radiotherapy, surgery) or who have been in a stable phase for at least two years and who are motivated to participate in this type of intervention.

Peer support program

Joana Perez Tejada

Amaia Arregi

Joana Perez

In cancer patients, social support provided by partners, family and/or friends plays a key role in coping with the disease and reducing treatment-related distress. However, research indicates that some of the needs of patients, such as coping with the disease, reducing isolation or managing guilt, often go unmet. With the aim of trying to meet these types of needs of people with cancer, the present research will evaluate the effectiveness of a peer support program in cancer patients, based on the support provided or exchanged by people who have faced similar challenges or problems. The intervention will consist of 8 face-to-face sessions of social peer support, involving a cancer patient and a volunteer who is in a stable phase and who has undergone the same diagnosis and medical treatment. To evaluate the effectiveness of the social support program, the immediate and long-term effect of participation in the program on both psychological (anxious-depressive symptoms, quality of life, perception of the disease, coping strategies, perception of social support,...) and biological (endocrine and immune system) variables will be analyzed.

The general aim of the present research will be to evaluate the effectiveness of a peer social support intervention in cancer patients at the Onkologikoa Foundation of Guipuzcoa. Specifically, the immediate and long-term effect that such intervention will have on symptoms of psychological distress, quality of life, coping strategy, perception of social support, perception of the disease and emotional regulation will be evaluated. As a secondary aim of this study, we intend to evaluate the immediate and long-term effect of the peer social support intervention on the immune system (through the determination of the levels of cytokines IL-1β, IL-2, IL-6, IL-8, IL-10, IFN-γ and TNF-α), on the monoaminergic system (through the determination of plasma levels of serotonin, tyrosine, phenylalanine, tryptophan, quinurenine, quinurenic acid and 3-HK), on the HPA axis (through the measurement of the diurnal cycle of cortisol), and on sex hormones (through the measurement of estradiol and testosterone levels), systems that have been related both to the development of anxious-depressive symptoms and to the development, progression and recurrence of cancer.

In addition, it will be studied at what time the application of the program is most effective, being applied in newly diagnosed patients (experimental group 1) and in patients who have just finished medical treatment (experimental group 2).

Peer Support Program in Cancer Patients Elkar Laguntza

Peer Support Program in cáncer Patients Elkar Laguntza

Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale ( HADS) was originally developed by Zigmond and Snaith (1983) and is commonly used by doctors to determine the levels of anxiety and depression that a person is experiencing. The total score is out of 42, (21 per anxiety and 21 per depression). Higher scores indicate greater levels of anxiety or depression.

The Social Support Scale (MOS-SSS) aims to assess the extent to which the person has the support of others to face stressful situations. 19 items with answer categories that range on a 7-point rating scale. Higher scores indicate greater levels of social support perception

The COPE inventory was created by Carver (1989). It is a multi-dimensional inventory developed to asses the different coping strategies people use in response to stress. Self-distraction, items 1 and 19 Active coping, items 2 and 7 Denial, items 3 and 8 Substance use, items 4 and 11 Use of emotional support, items 5 and 15 Use of instrumental support, items 10 and 23 Behavioral disengagement, items 6 and 16 Venting, items 9 and 21 Positive reframing, items 12 and 17 Planning, items 14 and 25 Humor, items 18 and 28 Acceptance, items 20 and 24 Religion, items 22 and 27 Self-blame, items 13 and 26. Range: 2-8. Higher scores indicate greater levels of coping

The Resilience Scale (RS) was developed to evaluate the levels of resilience in the general population. The items are rated on a 7-point scale ranging 1 (strongly disagree) to 7 (strongly agree), with a score ranging 14 to 98. Higher scores indicate greater levels of resilience

The SF-12 is a self-reported outcome measure assessing the impact of health on an individual's everyday life. It consists of physical and mental component scores (PCS/MCS), ranging from 0 to 100. Higher scores indicate greater quality of life.

The Trait Meta-Mood Scale (TMMS; Salovey, Mayer, Goldman, Turvey, \& Palfai, 1995) is a well-established measure of perceived emotional intelligence, an aspect of emotional intelligence that includes people's beliefs and attitudes about their own emotional experience. The TMMS-24 contains three key dimensions of emotional intelligence with 8 items each: Emotional Attention, Emotional Clarity and Emotional Repair. The score ranges from 7 to 56. Higher values indicate higher emotional intelligence

The Illness Perception Questionnaire (IPQ) is a widely used multifactorial pencil-and-paper questionnaire which assesses the five cognitive and emotional illness representations and comprehensibility. Five of the items assess cognitive illness representations: consequences (Item 1), timeline (Item 2), personal control (Item 3), treatment control (Item 4), and identity (Item 5). Two of the items assess emotional representations: concern (Item 6) and emotions (Item 8). One item assesses illness comprehensibility (Item 7). Higher scores indicate greater levels of illness perception

Cortisol is a hormone that is mainly released at times of stress

Cytokines are a broad and loose category of small proteins (\~5-20 kDa) important in cell signaling. Cytokines have been related with anxiety and depression symptoms

Sexual hormones as estradiol play an important role in mammary carcino- genesis, being able to induce carcinogenic initiation, promotion and progression

Monoamines refer to the particular neurotransmitters dopamine, noradrenaline and serotonin. These neurotransmitters are involved in different psychopathologies.

Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale ( HADS) was originally developed by Zigmond and Snaith (1983) and is commonly used by doctors to determine the levels of anxiety and depression that a person is experiencing. The total score is out of 42, (21 per anxiety and 21 per depression). Higher scores indicate greater levels of anxiety or depression. Zigmond and Snaith (1983) and is commonly used by doctors to determine the levels of anxiety and depression that a person is experiencing.

University of the Basque Country (UPV/EHU)

Psychology researcher

Neoplasms

Nervous System Diseases

Diseases and Abnormalities at or Before Birth

All Conditions

Symptoms and General Pathology

Skin and Connective Tissue Diseases

Rare Diseases

Neurofibromatoses

Neurofibromatosis 1

Neurofibroma

Nerve Sheath Neoplasms

Neoplasms, Nerve Tissue

Neoplasms by Histologic Type

Syndrome

Neoplastic Syndromes, Hereditary

Neurocutaneous Syndromes

Heredodegenerative Disorders, Nervous System

Neurodegenerative Diseases

Genetic Diseases, Inborn

Peripheral Nervous System Diseases

Neuromuscular Diseases

Nervous System Neoplasms

Peripheral Nervous System Neoplasms

Neurofibromatosis

Neurofibromatosis Type 1

PEERS weekly sessions - parallel teens and parent/caregiver groups

Structured social skills curriculum including didactics, behavioral rehearsal, parent coaching, and parent coaching support.

PEERS

Bonita P Klein-Tasman, PhD

Danielle Glad

Bonita Klein-Tasman, PhD

Bonnie Klein-Tasman, PhD

This is a pilot randomized control trial of the UCLA PEERS protocol delivered via Telehealth with teens with neurofibromatosis type 1 whose parents report that they have difficulty making and keeping friends.

Pilot Randomized Control Trial of Telehealth Group for Improving Peer Relationships (PEERS) in NF1

Effectiveness of a Telehealth Group for Improving Peer Relationships for Adolescents With Neurofibromatosis Type 1

Deidentified data will be available upon request to qualified investigators.

Change from pre- to post-test in parental ratings of QoL

Change from pre- to post-test in teen ratings of QoL

Change from pre- to post-test on SSIS-SEL parent Total Standard Score (measures social functioning)

Change from pre- to post-test on total score (measures knowledge of the PEERS concepts)

Change from pre- to 16 week followup on total score

Amount of change from pre- to post-test differs from change in Wait List Control group

change from pre- to post-test on Total SRS-2 completed by caregivers (measure of social impairment)

change from pre- to 16 week followup on Total SRS-2 completed by caregivers (measure of social impairment)

Study title	NCT ID	Conditions	Interventions	Eligibility	Organization	Link
Peer Support Program in Cancer Patients Elkar Laguntza	NCT05077371	Neoplasms Social Skills Psychological D...	Peer support pr...	- 70 Years	Onkologikoa
Pilot Randomized Control Trial of Telehealth Group for Improving Peer Relationships (PEERS) in NF1	NCT04860362	Neurofibromatos... Social Skills	PEERS	12 Years - 17 Years	University of Wisconsin, Milwaukee

Spots Global Cancer Trial Database for social skills