The Roles of Dyadic Appraisal and Coping in Couples With Lung Cancer.
Karen S Lyons, Lyndsey M Miller, Michael J McCarthy
PMID 27803239WHAT IT FOUND
Lung cancer patients who hid worries had worse mental health.
Spouses had worse mental health when couples disagreed about fatigue but were more similar about pain severity. This was an association, not proof that changing communication helps.
Key findings
01Patients who hid worries or feelings from their spouse were more likely to have worse mental health.
02Spouse mental health was worse when patients were younger, when couples disagreed more about fatigue, and when couples were more similar about pain severity.
03The factors together accounted for 28% of the variation in patient mental health and 36% of the variation in spouse mental health.
STILL TO COME
How it was doneWhat they foundWhat it means for RNs
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What it does not show
The study used baseline data only, so it cannot show cause and effect. The sample was 78 couples, which limited the number of variables that could be included. Patients in poor health soon after diagnosis were less likely to participate, so findings may not apply to them. Only patient protective buffering was measured, not spouse protective buffering or other forms of dyadic coping. The finding that spouses had worse mental health when pain appraisals were more similar was unexpected and needs replication.
Declared interests
The authors declared no conflicts of interest.
The easy way to misread this
Do not conclude that reducing protective buffering will improve patient mental health. This study measured associations at one time point, so it cannot show cause and effect.