Table 2.

 Support Group Leader demographic information

	Total sample (n = 353), N (% total)	Trained (n = 40), N (% trained)	Untrained (n = 313), N (% basic)	χ2 (d.f. = 1)	P
Gender				6.94	0.008
Female	279 (79)	38 (95)	241 (77)
Male	74 (21)	2 (5)	72 (23)
Level of education				21.71	<0.001
High school only	123 (35)	2 (5)	121 (38)
Beyond high school	174 (49)	34 (85)	140 (45)
Missing data	56 (16)	4 (10)	52 (17)
Leader diagnosed with cancer/MS				22.04	<0.001
Yes	207 (59)	10 (25)	197 (63)
No	142 (40)	30 (75)	112 (36)
Missing data	4 (1)	0 (0)	4 (1)
Paid to facilitate the support group				74.31	<0.001
Yes	91 (26)	33 (83)	58 (19)
No	257 (73)	7 (17)	250 (80)
Missing data	5 (1)	0 (0)	5 (1)
Has formal group facilitation training				35.02	<0.001
Yes	195 (55)	40 (100)	155 (50)
No	151 (43)	0	151 (48)
Missing data	7 (2)	0	7 (2)
Time spent on group facilitation training	(n = 195) (%)	(n = 40) (%)	(n = 155) (%)
Less than 1 week	99 (51)	0 (0)	99 (64)
1 week to 12  months	35 (18)	0 (0)	35 (23)
More than 12 months	40 (20)	40 (100)	0 (0)
Did not specify	21 (11)	0 (0)	21 (13)
Receives formal supervision				15.26	<0.001
Yes	68 (19)	17 (43)	51 (16)
No	281 (80)	23 (57)	258 (83)
Missing data	4 (1)	0 (0)	4 (1)
No. leaders facilitating the group One	145 (41)	17 (43)	128 (42)	0.01	0.910
More than one	203 (58)	23 (57)	180 (57)
Missing data	5 (1)	0 (0)	5 (1)
Facilitating a group for a specific cancer type or stage of MS
Yes	160 (45)	18 (45)	142 (45)
No	190 (54)	22 (55)	168 (54)
Missing data	3 (1)	0 (0)	3 (1)	0.01	0.923
Frequency of group meetings				4.14	0.042
More than one meeting a month	72 (21)	13 (33)	59 (19)
One meeting a month or less	273 (77)	26 (65)	247 (79)
Missing data	8 (2)	1 (2)	7 (2)