Spousal Support for Patients With Rheumatoid Arthritis:Getting the Wrong Kind Is a Pain

Research indicates that perceived support availability is beneficial, with support available from the spouse particularly important for well-being. However, actual support mobilization has shown mixed associations with recipient well-being. The primary goal of the present study was to go beyond examining the effects of global perceptions of support on recipient outcomes. Instead, we examined the effects of several specific types of support that have been found to be important in the clinical literature. In this study, we followed both members of couples in which one partner was diagnosed with rheumatoid arthritis. Patients provided reports on pain for both mornings and evenings across 1 week. Both partners also reported esteem, solicitous, and negative support mobilization received by the patient. We found that patient pain tended to increase across the day following increases in patient reports of negative support receipt and partner reports of solicitous support provision. We also found that patient pain tended to decrease across the day when partners reported increased levels of esteem support provision. Reverse causation analyses indicated higher levels of patient pain may lead partners to increase solicitous support mobilization to the patient. Findings underscore the importance of examining both partners' reports of support within a dyadic coping framework. They further suggest that not all forms of support are equally beneficial, calling for a finer grained assessment of specific support transactions

Relationship satisfaction in couples confronted with colorectal cancer: the interplay of past and current spousal support

Based on attribution theory, this study hypthesized that past spousal supportiveness may act as a moderator of the link between one partner’s current support behavior and the other partner’s relationship satisfaction. A sample of 88 patients with colorectal cancer and their partners completed questionnaires approximately 3 and 9 months after diagnosis. The data were analyzed employing dyadic data analytic approaches. In the short-term, spousal active engagement—which involved discussing feelings and engaging in joint problem solving—was positively associated with relationship satisfaction in patients as well as in partners, but only when past spousal support was relatively low. Spousal protective buffering—which involved hiding worries and fears and avoiding talking about the disease—was negatively associated with relationship satisfaction in patients, again only when past spousal support was relatively low. If past spousal support was high, participants rated the quality of their relationship relatively high, regardless of their partner’s current support behavior. Over time, past spousal supportiveness was not found to mitigate the negative association between spousal protective buffering and relationship satisfaction. Overall, our results indicate that relationship satisfaction can be maintained if past spousal supportiveness is high even if the partner is currently not very responsive to the individual’s needs, at least in the short-term

Supplemental Material, jspr-17-323-File005 - A 20-year prospective study of marital separation and divorce in stepfamilies: Appraisals of family stress as predictors

<p>Supplemental Material, jspr-17-323-File005 for A 20-year prospective study of marital separation and divorce in stepfamilies: Appraisals of family stress as predictors by Ellen Stephenson, and Anita DeLongis in Journal of Social and Personal Relationships</p

Effects of daily stress on negative mood

This article examines the influence of daily stressors on mental health in a community sample. Ss were 166 married couples who completed diaries each day for 6 weeks. In pooled within-person analyses, daily stressors explained up to 20 % of the variance in mood. Interpersonal conflicts were by far the most distressing events. Furthermore, when stressors occurred on a series of days, emotional habituation occurred by the second day for almost all events except interpersonal conflicts. Contrary to certain theoretical accounts, multiple stressors on the same day did not exacerbate one another&apos;s effects; rather, an emotional plateau occurred. Finally, on days following a stressful event, mood was better than it would have been if the stressor had not happened. These results reveal the complex emotional effects of daily stressors, and in particular, they suggest that future investigations should focus primarily on interpersonal conflicts. In recent years, it has become increasingly apparent that minor, everyday stressors influence health and psychological wellbein

Accuracy and Positivity in Adolescent Perceptions of Parent Behavior: Links With Adolescent Psychological Adjustment and Proinflammatory Profiles

© 2016, © The Author(s) 2016. Forming accurate perceptions is often linked to positive relationship and individual functioning, yet may also be detrimental in some contexts. The current study examined whether accuracy may be detrimental to individual functioning, both psychological and physiological, in an important social context: parentâadolescent relationships. Specifically, we examined whether the accuracy of adolescentsâ perceptions of their parentâs behaviors was associate d with adolescent psychological adjustment (depression and perceived stress; N dyads = 99) and proinflammatory profiles (N dyads = 95). Adolescents who viewed their parentâs behaviors more accurately (more in line with external observersâ ratings) reported worse psychological adjustment and demonstrated worse regulation of the inflammatory response. In contrast, adolescents who viewed their parentâs behaviors highly normatively and positively reported better psychological adjustment. Overall, these findings suggest that adolescent accuracy regarding parent behaviors may be detrimental to adolescent psychological adjustment and inflammatory processes.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Parental accuracy regarding adolescent daily experiences: Relationships with adolescent psychological adjustment and inflammatory regulation

Copyright © 2014 by the American Psychosomatic Society. Objective: There is evidence that parents play an important role in their adolescent's health and well-being, but the links between specific daily processes and biological mechanisms relevant to health remain to be determined. In this study, we examined the role of parental accuracyVthat is, whether parents who are more accurate about their adolescents' daily experiences have adolescents with better psychological functioning and inflammatory regulation. Methods: In a 2-week daily diary study of 116 parent-adolescent dyads, we examined whether parental accuracy about their adolescent's daily demands and the positivity of their day together were associated with markers of psychological functioning and with regulation of the inflammatory response in terms of glucocorticoid sensitivity (the extent to which cortisol is able to dampen the production of inflammatory proteins) in adolescents. Results: Adolescents whose daily experiences were perceived more accurately by their parents reported better psychological adjustment (lower stress and depression) and a greater sensitivity of their immune cells to anti-inflammatory signals from cortisol (i.e., diminished production of inflammatory proteins when cells were stimulated with the combination of a bacterial product [lipopolysaccharide] and cortisol; |A| range, 0.38-0.53, all p values < .041). Conclusions: Greater parental accuracy regarding adolescents' daily experiences is associated with better adolescent psychological adjustment and a more sensitive anti-inflammatory response to cortisol. These results provide preliminary evidence that parental accuracy regarding their adolescent's daily experiences may be one specific daily parent factor that plays a role in adolescent health and well-being.Link_to_subscribed_fulltex

Associations of Daily Partner Responses With Fatigue Interference an Relationship Satisfaction in Colorectal Cancer Patients

Objective: This study investigates the associations of daily partner responses toward patient's fatigue and well behavior with patient's fatigue interference and relationship satisfaction. The moderating effect of fatigue severity was also examined. Method: In an intensive longitudinal design, patients treated for colorectal cancer and their partners (n = 101 dyads) completed diaries for 14 days. Patients and partners reported on partner responses toward patient's fatigue behavior (e.g., resting). partner responses toward patient's well behavior (e.g., being active), and fatigue severity. Patients also indicated their fatigue interference and relationship satisfaction. Multilevel modeling was applied to assess within-person main and interaction effects. Results: Patient-reported solicitous responses toward fatigue behavior and negative responses toward well behavior were associated with increases in fatigue interference, while facilitative responses toward well behavior were associated with a decrease in fatigue interference. The latter two associations were intensified on days patients reported relatively high fatigue. Solicitous responses toward fatigue behavior and facilitative responses toward well behavior were also associated with increases in relationship satisfaction. Punishing responses toward fatigue behavior were associated with a decrease in relationship satisfaction, especially on days patients reported higher fatigue. Models using partner reports largely confirmed the main effects of partner responses on fatigue interference and relationship satisfaction but failed to reproduce the moderating effect of fatigue. Conclusions: Daily partner responses appear to impact patients' fatigue adjustment, especially on days patients experience high fatigue levels. Only facilitative responses toward well behavior seem to benefit both patients' fatigue interference and relationship satisfaction. Couple interventions should guide partners to encourage patients' well behavior and aid them to correctly estimate patients' current fatigue severity