Peer support for women with breast cancer: The role of empathy and self-disclosure

This study examined how women with breast cancer perceived different styles of peer helping. Forty recently diagnosed breast cancer patients evaluated three audiotaped conversations between a breast cancer patient and an lex- patient) volunteer helper; the conversations differed in terms of the empat hy and self-disclosure offered by the helper. The findings supported the fi rst hypothesis, that a helping style involving high self-disclosure would b e positively evaluated only in the presence of high empathy. However, the f indings did not support the second hypothesis, that in conversations where high empathy is present, a helping style involving high self-disclosure wou ld be evaluated more positively than one involving low self-disclosure. Qua litative data suggested that the helper's ability to listen to the patient and the helper's appropriate sharing of her own experience of breast cancer were both perceived as important components of effective helping. Implicat ions for the training and practice of volunteer helpers are discussed. Copy right (C) 1999 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.