Development and Initial Assessment of an Emotional Support Provision Training Intervention for Interpersonal Support Providers in the Context of Chronic Illness

ABSTRACT

This study reports on the development and pilot testing of an emotional support provision training intervention for interpersonal support providers to those with chronic illnesses. Using findings from a needs assessment in combination with existing theory and research, we created a training framework consisting of verbal person-centered message design, empathic listening, and communicated perspective-taking. Then, we recruited 282 individuals to participate in a pre-training questionnaire, the online training module, a post-training questionnaire, and a two-week post-training questionnaire. Outcome variables included emotional support knowledge, efficacy, and intentions, as well as general support efficacy, response efficacy, and quality. Repeated measures MANCOVA revealed significant increases from T1 to T2 for all variables of interest. These increases were sustained at T3 for emotional support knowledge and efficacy, and support provision response efficacy. Participants rated the training favorably and provided helpful suggestions for improvement. This study answers the call for more theoretically-grounded support interventions that not only assess theory in real-world settings, but also help people better their supportive communication skills.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Data availability statement

The data that support the findings of this study are available from the corresponding author, Charee M. Thompson, upon reasonable request.

Supplemental data

Supplemental data for this article can be accessed online at https://doi.org/10.1080/10410236.2024.2325183

Notes

1. CFA results for the supportive communication efficacy scale can be found in supplemental materials. The models demonstrated mixed fit, and factor loadings ranged from .77–.96.

2. Ray and Mikkelson (2023) recommend that researchers conducted CFAs on the multidimensional evaluation of support scale (MEESS), report findings, and justify decisions to treat the scale as multidimensional or unidimensional. Results of the CFAs can be found in supplemental materials. The scale demonstrated mixed fit, both with one-factor and three-factor solutions. Factor loadings ranged from .50–.90 for the one-factor model, and .57–.92 for the three-factor. The three-factor solutions performed slightly better than the one-factor solutions, and the chi-square difference test was significant. Yet, the three factors comprising the scale were highly correlated (e.g., .58–.89). Given that most research treats the scale as unidimensional, that the factors are highly correlated, and that separating the factors may add complexity to our already numerous outcome variables, we opted to treat the scale as unidimensional.

Additional information

Funding

The author(s) reported there is no funding associated with the work featured in this article.