Background: Managing the psychosocial impact of breast cancer in families affected by the disease is important in increasing access to timely screening, enhancing self-care and managing the impact of the diagnosis in oneself or in relatives.

Methods: A systematic review of the literature was conducted to explore the impact of breast cancer on families and identify psychosocial interventions that have been tested to support families affected by breast cancer.

Findings: Key factors in the relevant articles reported psychosocial outcomes (anxiety, depression, distress, and sexual functioning) and managing breast cancer risk and genetic testing. Interventions to support those with a family history prioritise psychological variable such as worry and risk perception, or promote self-care behaviours such as breast self-examination, mammography attendance and increasing physical activity.

Conclusions: Health services have the opportunity to use relational and familial networks to promote self-care and target interventions to manage psychosocial sequalae of enhanced risk. We propose a relational model of health promotion as being particularly salient for heritable conditions, where interventions can reduce risk and promote psychosocial adjustment.