Group support interventions for women with breast cancer: Who benefits from what?

Research on the benefits of social support groups has been inconclusive. On e reason is that individual differences in intervention responses have rare ly been examined. The authors determined the extent to which individual dif ference variables moderated the effects of an information-based educational group and an emotion-focused peer discussion group on the mental and physi cal functioning of women with breast cancer (n = 230). The authors administ ered the SF-36 (S. E. Ware, K. K. Snow, M. Kosinski, & B. Gandek, 1993), a multidimensional quality of life instrument, pre and postintervention. Educ ational groups showed greater benefits on the physical functioning of women who started the study with more difficulties compared with less difficulti es (e.g., lacked support or fewer personal resources). Peer discussion grou ps were helpful for women who lacked support from their partners or physici ans but harmful for women who had high levels of support. Implications of t hese results for clinical interventions are discussed.