Peer support and support groups
Meeting others in the same situation reduces distress and isolation, and randomised trials of supportive-expressive groups show better mood and pain coping. The once-famous claim that support groups lengthen survival did not hold up in a larger trial.
Overview
Peer support ranges from one-to-one matched volunteers to professionally led supportive-expressive groups. Randomised trials show reduced distress, improved mood and better coping with pain in participants, with effects largest in those most distressed at baseline. A small 1989 trial suggested that supportive-expressive group therapy doubled survival in metastatic breast cancer; the multicentre replication of 235 women (Goodwin et al., NEJM 2001) found improved mood and pain but no survival difference, and later trials agreed. Support groups are therefore for quality of life, not for the tumour. Online communities extend reach but also spread misinformation, so oncology teams increasingly signpost moderated, charity-run groups.
How it works
Shared experience normalises fear, models coping strategies and reduces isolation; group facilitation adds emotional expression and problem-solving.
- Randomised evidence for mood and pain coping
- Cheap and widely available through charities
- Reaches people who would not see a psychologist
- No survival effect
- Quality varies; unmoderated online groups can misinform
- Not a substitute for treating clinical depression
Latest papers
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