Perceived conflict in the couple and chronic illness management: Preliminary analyses from the Quebec Health Survey (original) (raw)
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Chronic disease in elderly couples
Journal of Psychosomatic Research, 2001
Objective: The aim of the present study is to increase knowledge regarding associations between couples' health condition and psychological distress in both spouses considering gender as well as patient/spouse status. Method: We examined a community-based sample of 995 elderly couples in which either both spouses were healthy, one of them suffered from chronic disease or both spouses were ill. Both spouses filled out the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: In line with our hypotheses, the results showed an association between women's psychological distress and their own as well as their spouse's health condition, whereas men's psychological distress was associated only with their own health condition. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate the need for awareness of gender and patient/spouse differences in psychological distress among elderly couples confronted with chronic disease. D
Journal of Psychosomatic Research
Objective: The aim of the present study is to increase knowledge regarding associations between couples' health condition and psychological distress in both spouses considering gender as well as patient/spouse status. Method: We examined a community-based sample of 995 elderly couples in which either both spouses were healthy, one of them suffered from chronic disease or both spouses were ill. Both spouses filled out the Hospital Anxiety and Depression Scale. Results: In line with our hypotheses, the results showed an association between women's psychological distress and their own as well as their spouse's health condition, whereas men's psychological distress was associated only with their own health condition. Conclusion: The findings demonstrate the need for awareness of gender and patient/spouse differences in psychological distress among elderly couples confronted with chronic disease. D
Asian Pacific Journal of Health Sciences
Objectives: The objectives of the study were to explore the psychological health, as well as the levels of marital and sexual satisfaction, of wives of patients with a chronic illness. Methods: The sample consisted of 34 women, whose husbands were diagnosed and undergoing treatment for a chronic illness (coronary heart disease; diabetes; or cancer). Results: Correlational, comparative, and predictive analyses were conducted on the data. Clinically significant marital and sexual dissatisfactions were found. Wives reported moderate levels of depression and anxiety, but severe levels of stress. Depression and sexual satisfaction were found to be significant predictors of marital satisfaction. Marital dissatisfaction scores were significantly lower for wives who were employed as compared to unemployed wives. Discussion: Wives are impacted by the illness status of their spouse. The additional stress of caregiving, along with societally ascribed roles and responsibilities on women, create...
Social Science & Medicine, 2010
The attempts of social network members to regulate individuals' health behaviors, or health-related social control, is one mechanism by which social relationships influence health. Little is known, however, about whether this process varies in married versus unmarried individuals managing a chronic illness in which health behaviors are a key component. Researchers have proposed that social control attempts may have dual effects on recipients' well-being, such that improved health behaviors may occur at the cost of increased emotional distress. The current study accordingly sought to examine marital status differences in the sources, frequency, and responses to health-related social control in an ethnically diverse sample of 1,477 patients with type 2 diabetes from southern California, USA. Results from two-way ANCOVAs revealed that married individuals reported their spouses most frequently as sources of social control, with unmarried women naming children and unmarried men naming friends/neighbors most frequently as sources of social control. Married men reported receiving social control most often, whereas unmarried men reported receiving social control least often. Regression analyses that examined behavioral and emotional responses to social control revealed that positive social control strategies were associated with better dietary behavior among married patients. Results also revealed a complex pattern of emotional responses, such that social control was associated with both appreciation and hostility, with the effect for appreciation most pronounced among women. Findings from this study highlight the importance of marital status and gender differences in social network members' involvement in the management of a chronic illness.
Frontiers, 2023
Introduction: Coping with chronic illness and care dependency in a marital dyad challenges many older couples. In our qualitative research study, we are interested in how long-married spouses in Germany experience their couple relationship while dealing with long-term care and adapting everyday life to the care situation. Methods: We conducted problem-centered interviews with spouses according to the interpretive-reconstructive documentary method. Results: We derived four thematic areas: () partner(ship) disappears behind the disease; () partners struggle with changing tasks and roles; () caring partners mourn the loss of intimacy; and () partners strive to rebalance the partnership. Discussion: When chronic illness and care dependency enter couples' lives, the self-image as husband or wife is a ected. Primary health care professionals should be sensitive to the specific constellation of care in couple relationships and recognize the significance of this dyadic relationship as living in a satisfying couple relationship is essential for the health and wellbeing of both partners.
A Qualitative Study of Dyadic Coping among Couples Dealing with Burden of Chronic Illness
Global Social Sciences Review, 2020
The present qualitative study aimed in-depth exploration of dyadic coping among couples dealing with chronic illness. There were 12 couples (six females and six males) with chronic illness and their healthy partners were interviewed. The in-depth interviews were conducted through interview guide based on Systematic Transactional Model (STM) (Bodenmann, 1995) and lived experiences of participants. The results were analyzed by using (Braun & Clarke, 2006) method of thematic analysis. The results revealed that female diagnosed partners showed less supportive dyadic coping to deal with physical and emotional burden of their chronic illnesses as compared to chronically ill male partners. However, the economic hardships is equally stressful for both members of the couples resulted in negative dyadic coping. The therapeutic assistance should be given to improve the dyadic coping among couples to deal with burden of chronic illness and live with better quality of life.
Patients’ and partners’ perspectives of chronic illness and its management.
integrated model of health disclosure decisionmaking. In T. D. Afifi & W. A. Afifi (Eds.), Uncertainty and information regulation in interpersonal contexts: . New York, NY: Routledge) and examines how couples experience uncertainty and interference related to one partner's chronic health condition. Specifically, a model is hypothesized in which illness uncertainty (i.e., stigma, prognosis, and symptom) and illness interference predict communication efficacy and health condition management. Participants include 308 dyads in which one partner has a chronic health condition. Data were analyzed using structural equation modeling. Results indicate that there are significant differences in (a) how patients and partners experience illness uncertainty and illness interference and (b) how appraisals of illness uncertainty and illness interference influence communication efficacy and health condition management. We discuss the findings and implications of the study.
Dyadic Coping in Couples Facing Chronic Physical Illness: A Systematic Review
Objective: Chronic physical illness affects not only patients but also their partners. Dyadic coping (DC)-the ways couples cope in dealing with a stressor such as chronic illness-has received increased attention over the last three decades. The aim of the current study was to summarize the state of research on DC in couples with chronic physical illnesses. Methods: We conducted a systematic review of qualitative, quantitative, and mixed-methods studies published between 1990 and 2020, assessing DC in couples affected by severe physical illnesses. We used DC and related search terms for the literature search in Psycinfo, Psyndex, and Medline. Five thousand three hundred thirty studies were identified in three electronic databases and 49 of these were included in the review (5,440 individuals reported on 2,820 dyads). We excluded studies on cancer, cardiovascular disease, and multiple sclerosis because of existing reviews in the respective fields. Half of the studies included were on diabetes. Other studies were on arthritis, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), cystic fibrosis, human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), Huntington's disease, lupus erythematosus, Parkinson's disease, renal diseases, stroke, and endometriosis. Two raters extracted data using a predefined protocol, including study quality. Results were collated in a narrative synthesis organized by illness and DC operationalization. Results: Overall, DC was associated with beneficial outcomes in physical health, well-being, and relationship satisfaction. Differential effects became apparent for certain chronic conditions potentially depending on certain disease characteristics, such as early-onset, sudden-onset, or life-threatening conditions. Conclusion: Facing challenges together as a couple seemed indispensable for adapting to a diverse range of demands related to chronic illnesses with some specific demands of particular chronic diseases. There is a need for the development of truly dyadic interventions with an eye on the specific challenges of the various chronic conditions.
The Journals of Gerontology: Series B, 2019
Objectives: To examine (a) the relationship between own depressive symptoms and spouses' health condition changes among mid-and later-life couples and (b) the roles of marital relationship quality and spousal caregiving in this relationship. Method: Fixed-effect analyses were conducted using data from 3,055 couples aged 45 and older from Waves 1 (2006) to 4 (2012) of the Korean Longitudinal Study on Ageing. Results: Spousal stroke was linked with higher depression symptoms. Spouses' onset of cancer was related to an increase in depressive symptoms for wives, but not for husbands. Spousal caregiving and marital satisfaction were significant moderators: Wives caring for spouses with cancer reported more depressive symptoms than those not providing care; husbands caring for spouses with lung disease reported more depressive symptoms than those not providing care. The associations between wives' heart disease, husbands' cancer diagnosis, and depressive symptoms were weaker for couples with higher marital satisfaction. Discussion: The findings suggest variations across health condition types and gender. Relationship quality and caregiving are important contexts moderating the negative impact of spousal chronic illness on depression. Health care providers should be aware that spouses' health statuses are connected and that type of illness may affect the care context.