The Dyadic Effects of Family Cohesion and Communication on Health-Related Quality of Life: The Moderating Role of Sex.
Jung-Won Lim, En-Jung Shon
PMID 28114262WHAT IT FOUND
Spouses' perceived family communication linked survivors' perceived family cohesion to spouses' better physical quality of life.
For spouses of male survivors, positive communication was associated with better physical quality of life.
Key findings
01Survivors' perceived family cohesion was associated with spouses' physical quality of life through the spouses' perceived family communication.
02Spouses' perceived family communication was associated with their own physical quality of life through their own perceived family cohesion.
03For spouses of male survivors, positive perceived family communication was associated with better physical quality of life, while for spouses of female survivors it was not. Male spouses' positive perceived family communication was associated with worse mental quality of life.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
Read the rest of this summary
You get three full summaries a month, free, and we do not ask for a card. Search, the TL;DRs and your library stay unlimited either way.
What it does not show
The study was cross-sectional, so it cannot show that family cohesion or communication caused better quality of life. Only 91 couples completed the survey, and the response rate was low, so findings may not apply to all survivor-spouse couples. Couples had to agree to participate together and survivors were 1 to 5 years after diagnosis, had completed active treatment, and were free of major disabling disease, so more distressed or unwell couples may be missing. All measures were self-reported, so recall bias and social desirability may affect scores. The sample was limited to European-American and African-American survivors of breast, colorectal, or prostate cancer, so results may not generalise to other groups or cancer types.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest. The article is listed as having NIH extramural research support, but the text does not state who funded the study or whether the funder had a role.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that improving family cohesion or communication will improve quality of life. This was a cross-sectional survey of 91 self-selected couples, and it showed associations only, not treatment effects.