Vilhauer Ruvanee P
Psychology Department, Felician College, Lodi, New Jersey 07644, USA.
Women Health. 2009 Jul-Aug;49(5):381-404. doi: 10.1080/03630240903238719.
Women with metastatic breast cancer (MBC), a life-threatening illness, stand to benefit a great deal from online support groups, but none have been studied specifically within this population. The present mixed-method study was carried out to determine which therapeutic factors occurred in online MBC support groups, and to see how such factors might have acted to benefit participants. Participants were 20 women with MBC who participated in online peer support groups. Most reported benefiting in some way from their groups. Six therapeutic factors theorized to be helpful in online support groups and cancer support groups were present in the groups studied: group cohesiveness, information exchange, universality, instillation of hope, catharsis, and altruism. However, although participants reported being able to discuss many other concerns freely, they had difficulty discussing death and dying, which are critical issues for this category of women with BC.
转移性乳腺癌（MBC）是一种危及生命的疾病，患有这种疾病的女性能从在线支持小组中受益匪浅，但尚未针对这一特定人群进行专门研究。本混合方法研究旨在确定在线MBC支持小组中出现了哪些治疗因素，并了解这些因素如何对参与者产生有益影响。参与者为20名患有MBC的女性，她们参加了在线同伴支持小组。大多数人报告称从小组中获得了某种程度的益处。在所研究的小组中出现了六个理论上对在线支持小组和癌症支持小组有帮助的治疗因素：群体凝聚力、信息交流、普遍性、希望的灌输、宣泄和利他主义。然而，尽管参与者报告能够自由讨论许多其他问题，但她们在讨论死亡和临终问题时存在困难，而这些问题对于这类患乳腺癌的女性来说至关重要。
