Third-wave psychotherapy for caregivers of cancer patients: a scoping review

Abstract Background Cancer caregivers provide extensive support in all aspects of patients' daily lives. It has been reported that a significant proportion of cancer caregivers experience emotional distress. As one way to solve this problem, third-wave psychotherapy, which involves integrating acceptance and mindfulness into cognitive‒behavioral therapy, has been applied to improve caregiver outcomes. Methods A scoping review was conducted based on the scoping review guidelines proposed by the Jonna Briggs Institute (JBI). PCC was established to review the third-wave psychotherapies applied with cancer caregivers. The population was caregivers for cancer patients, the concept was 'third-wave psychotherapy,' and the context remained open. English and Korean publications published from 2001 to June 2022 were identified from PubMed, Embase, CINAHL, PsycINFO, Cochrane, Korea Med, and RISS. Results A total of 12 studies were included in this scoping review. Mindfulness-based stress reduction (MBSR) was the most frequently applied intervention (n = 5), followed by acceptance and commitment therapy (ACT, n = 3) and mindfulness-based cognitive therapy (MBCT, n = 2). Among the six characteristics of third-wave psychotherapy, ‘mindfulness methods’ were identified in most of the studies (n = 12). Dyadic interventions comprised the majority (n = 9). Interventions using digital techniques such as mobile application/web page (n = 3), telephone (n = 3), and FaceTime (n = 2) have increased since 2017. Depression was the most frequently evaluated outcome (n = 8), followed by anxiety and mindfulness (n = 6 each). Conclusions The current review examined available third-wave psychotherapies for cancer caregivers and targeted outcomes. Most of the interventions were dyadic interventions and utilized mindfulness techniques with meditation. Delivery methods were continuously updated with digital technologies. Further RCTs with robust research designs and a synthesis of the results of the trials would provide evidence about how to effectively apply third-wave psychological interventions for cancer caregivers.