Communal coping is defined as the appraisal of a problem as shared and collaboration to address the problem. The goals of the present study were to apply a multi-method approach to (1) disentangle appraisal and collaboration, (2) establish links to relationships and health outcomes, and (3) demonstrate that collaboration mediates the relations of shared appraisal to outcomes. Self-report measures, an observational measure, and we-language were assessed in patients with type 2 diabetes and their spouses (n = 207). A confirmatory factor analysis distinguished the two components of communal coping; each component was linked to greater relationship quality and less psychological distress for patients and spouses as well as better diabetes self-care behaviors for patients. Mediation analyses suggested that the links of shared appraisal to these outcomes were largely accounted for by collaboration.
AronA.AronE. N.SmollanD. (1992). Inclusion of other in the Self Scale and the structure of interpersonal closeness. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 63, 596–612.
2.
BadrH.MilburyK.MajeedN.CarmackC. L.AhmadZ.GritzE. R. (2016). Natural language use and couples’ adjustment to head and neck cancer. Health Psychology, 35, 1069–1080.
3.
BergC. A.SkinnerM.KoK.ButlerJ. M.PalmerD. L.ButnerJ.WiebeD. J. (2009). The fit between stress appraisal and dyadic coping in understanding perceived coping effectiveness for adolescents with type 1 diabetes. Journal of Family Psychology, 23, 521–530.
4.
BergC. A.UpchurchR. (2007). A developmental-contextual model of couples coping with chronic illness across the adult life span. Psychological Bulletin, 133, 920–954.
5.
BergC. A.WiebeD. J.ButnerJ.BloorL.BradstreetC.UpchurchR.HayesJ.StephensonR.NailL.PattonG. (2008). Collaborative coping and daily mood in couples dealing with prostate cancer. Psychology and Aging, 23, 505–516.
6.
BodenmannG. (1997). Dyadic coping-a systematic-transactional view of stress and coping among couples: Theory and empirical findings. European Review of Applied Psychology, 47, 137–140.
7.
ClarkM. S.MillsJ. (1979). Interpersonal attraction in exchange and communal relationships. Journal of personality and social psychology, 37, 12–24.
8.
CohenS.KamarckT.MermelsteinR. (1983). A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior, 24, 385–396.
9.
CoyneJ. C.SmithD. A. F. (1991). Couples coping with myocardial infarction: A contextual perspective on wives’ distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 404–412.
10.
DienerE. D.EmmonsR. A.LarsenR. J.GriffinS. (1985). The satisfaction with life scale. Journal of Personality Assessment, 49, 71–75.
11.
FalconierM. K.JacksonJ. B.HilpertP.BodenmannG. (2015). Dyadic coping and relationship satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review, 42, 28–46.
12.
HelgesonV. S.BergC. A.KellyC. S.Van VleetM.ZajdelM.TracyE. L.LitchmanM. L. (2019). Patient and partner illness appraisals and health among adults with type 1 diabetes. Journal of behavioral medicine, 42, 480–492.
13.
HelgesonV. S.JakubiakB.SeltmanH.HausmannL.KorytkowskiM. (2017). Implicit and explicit communal coping in couples with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 34, 1099–1121.
14.
HelgesonV. S.JakubiakB.Van VleetM.ZajdelM. (2018). Communal coping and adjustment to chronic illness: Theory update and evidence. Personality and Social Psychological Review, 22, 170–195.
15.
HelgesonV. S.NaqviJ. B.SeltmanH.VaughnA. K.KorytkowskiM.HausmannL. R.Gary-WebbT. L. (2019). Links of communal coping to relationship and psychological health in type 2 diabetes: Actor–partner interdependence models involving role, sex, and race. Annals of Behavioral Medicine. https://doi.org/10.1093/abm/kaz052
16.
HelgesonV. S.Van VleetM. (2019). Inclusion of other in the Self Scale: An adaptation and exploration in a diverse community sample. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships. https://doi.org/0265407519848491
17.
JohnsonM. D.AndersonJ. R.WalkerA.WilcoxA.LewisV. L.RobbinsD. C. (2013). Common dyadic coping is indirectly related to dietary and exercise adherence via patient and partner diabetes efficacy. Journal of Family Psychology, 27, 722–730.
18.
KaranA.RosenthalR.RobbinsM. L. (2019). Meta-analytic evidence that we-talk predicts relationship and personal functioning in romantic couples. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36, 2624–2651.
19.
KarneyB. R. (October, 2018). How socioeconomic context moderates (and sometimes flips) conventional wisdom in relationship science. Paper presented at the Society for Experimental Social Psychology, Portland, ME.
20.
KlineR. B. (2016). Principles and practice of structural equation modeling. The Guilford Press.
21.
LyonsR. F.MickelsonK. D.SullivanM. J.CoyneJ. C. (1998). Coping as a communal process. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15, 579–605.
22.
MehlM. R.PennebakerJ. W.CrowD. M.DabbsJ.PriceJ. H. (2001). The electronically activated recorder (EAR): A device for sampling naturalistic daily activities and conversations. Behavior Research Methods, Instruments, & Computers, 33, 517–523.
23.
MuthénL. K.MuthénB. O. (1998–2012). Mplus version 7 user’s guide. Author.
24.
NortonR. (1983). Measuring marital quality: A critical look at the dependent variable. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 141–151.
25.
RadloffL. S. (1977). The CES-d scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement, 1, 385–401.
26.
RentscherK. E. (2019). Communal coping with health problems. Frontiers in psychology, 10, 398.
27.
RentscherK. E.SorianoE. C.RohrbaughM. J.ShohamV.MehlM. R. (2017). Partner pronoun use, communal coping, and abstinence during couple-focused intervention for problematic alcohol use. Family Process, 56, 348–363.
28.
RevensonT. A. (1994). Social support and marital coping with chronic illness. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 16, 122–130.
29.
RobbinsM. L.MehlM. R.SmithH. L.WeihsK. L. (2013). Linguistic indicators of patient, couple, and family adjustment following breast cancer. Psycho-Oncology, 22, 1501–1508.
30.
RohrbaughM. J.MehlM. R.ShohamV.ReillyE. S.EwyG. A. (2008). Prognostic significance of spouse we talk in couples coping with heart failure. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 76, 781–789.
31.
RohrbaughM. J.ShohamV.SkoyenJ. A.JensenM.MehlM. R. (2012). We-talk, communal coping, and cessation success in a couple-focused intervention for health-compromised smokers. Family Process, 51, 107–121.
32.
SchaeferM. T.OlsonD. H. (1981). Assessing intimacy: The PAIR inventory. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy, 7, 47–60.
ToobertD. J.GlasgowR. E. (1994). Assessing diabetes self-management: The summary of diabetes self-care activities questionnaire. In BradleyC. (Ed.), Handbook of psychology and diabetes (pp. 351–375). Oregon Research Institute.
35.
TriefP. M.FisherL.SandbergJ.CibulaD. A.DimmockJ.HesslerD. M.ForkenP.WeinstockR. S. (2016). Health and psychosocial outcomes of a telephonic couples behavior change intervention in patients with poorly controlled type 2 diabetes: A randomized clinical trial. Diabetes Care, 39, 2165–2173.
36.
Van VleetM.HelgesonV. S.SeltmanH. J.KorytkowskiM. T.HausmannL. R. (2019). An examination of the communal coping process in recently diagnosed diabetes. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 36, 1297–1316.
37.
WooldridgeJ. S.RanbyK. W. (2018, April). A couples-based approach for increasing physical activity among couples with type 2 diabetes: A preliminary study. Paper presented at the 38th Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, New Orleans, LA.
38.
ZajdelM.HelgesonV. S.NaqviJ.SeltmanH.KorytkowskiM. (2019, March). The role of daily appraisal and collaboration in coping with type 2 diabetes. 39th Annual Meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Washington, D.C.
39.
ZajdelM.HelgesonV. S.SeltmanH. J.KorytkowskiM. T.HausmannL. R. (2018). Daily communal coping in couples with type 2 diabetes: Links to mood and self-care. Annals of Behavioral Medicine, 52, 228–238.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
