The study goal was to determine whether partner’s level of unmitigated communion moderated the relation of partner communal coping to patient health. Couples in which one person was recently diagnosed with type 2 diabetes (n = 123) were interviewed separately and asked to discuss a diabetes-related problem. Communal coping behavior (from videotaped discussions) interacted with partner communal coping, such that partner communal coping was related to lower patient distress, higher patient self-efficacy, and higher patient medication adherence only when partners scored lower on unmitigated communion. The extent to which perceived emotional responsiveness and overprotective behavior mediated these relations was explored.
BassettRLAubeJ (2013) “Please care about me!” or “I am pleased to care about you!” Considering adaptive and maladaptive versions of unmitigated communion. Journal of Psychology & Theology41(2): 107–119.
2.
BergCAWiebeDJButnerJ, et al. (2008) Collaborative coping and daily mood in couples dealing with prostate cancer. Psychology and Aging23(3): 505–516.
3.
BodenmannG (1995) A systematic-transactional conceptualization of stress and coping in couples. Swiss Journal of Psychology54(1): 34–49.
4.
BodenmannG (1997) Dyadic coping: A systematic-transactional view of stress and coping among couples: Theory and empirical findings. European Review of Applied Psychology47: 137–140.
5.
BodenmannGPihetSKayserK (2006) The relationship between dyadic coping and marital quality: A 2-year longitudinal study. Journal of Family Psychology20(3): 485–493.
6.
BussDM (1990) Unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion: An analysis of the negative components of masculinity and femininity. Sex Roles22: 555–568.
7.
CohenSKamarckTMermelsteinR (1983) A global measure of perceived stress. Journal of Health and Social Behavior24: 385–396.
8.
CoyneJCSmithDAF (1991) Couples coping with a myocardial infarction: A contextual perspective on wives’ distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology61(3): 404–412.
9.
Danoff -BurgSRevensonTATrudeauKJ, et al. (2004) Unmitigated communion, social constraints, and psychological distress among women with rheumatoid arthritis. Journal of Personality72(1): 29–46.
10.
DienerELarsenRJ (1984) Temporal stability and cross-situational consistency of affective, behavioral, and cognitive responses. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology47(4): 871–883.
11.
FalconierMKJacksonJBHilpertP, et al. (2015) Dyadic coping and relationship satisfaction: A meta-analysis. Clinical Psychology Review42: 28–46.
12.
FeketeEMStephensMAPMickelsonKD, et al. (2007) Couples’ support provision during illness: The role of perceived emotional responsiveness. Families, Systems, & Health25(2): 204–217.
13.
FritzHLHelgesonVS (1998) A theory of unmitigated communion. Personality and Social Psychology Review2: 173–183.
14.
HagedoornMKuijerRGBuunkBP, et al. (2000) Marital satisfaction in patients with cancer: Does support from intimate partners benefit those who need it most?Health Psychology19(3): 274–282.
15.
HallgrenKAMcCradyBS (2015) We-language and sustained reductions in drinking in couple-based treatment for alcohol use disorders. Family Process1: 17.
16.
Helgeson VS (2017) Young adults with type 1 diabetes: Romantic relationships and implications for well-being. Diabetes Spectrum30(2): 108–116.
17.
HelgesonVSFritzHL (1998) A theory of unmitigated communion. Personality and Social Psychology Review2: 173–183.
18.
HelgesonVSFritzHL (1999) Unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion: Distinctions from agency and communion. Journal of Research in Personality33: 131–158.
19.
HelgesonVSFritzHL (2000) The implications of unmitigated agency and unmitigated communion for domains of problem behavior. Journal of Personality68: 1031–1057.
20.
HelgesonVSPalladinoDK (2012) Agentic and communal traits and health: Adolescents with and without diabetes. Personality and Social Psychology Bulletin38: 415–428.
21.
HelgesonVSJakubiakBSeltmanH, et al. (2016) Implicit and explicit communal coping in couples with recently diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships1: 23.
22.
KuijerRGYbemaJFBuunkBP, et al. (2000) Active engagement, protective buffering, and overprotection: Three ways of giving support by intimate partners of patients with cancer. Journal of Social and Clinical Psychology19(2): 256–275.
23.
LyonsRFMickelsonKDSullivanMJL, et al. (1998) Coping as a communal process. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships15: 579–605.
24.
MoriskyDEGreenLWLevineDM (1986) Concurrent and predictive validity of a self-reported measure of medication adherence. Medical Care24(1): 67–74.
25.
NortonR (1983) Measuring marital quality: A critical look at the dependent variable. Journal of Marriage and the Family45(1): 141–151.
26.
PappLMWittNL (2010) Romantic partners’ individual coping strategies and dyadic coping: Implications for relationship functioning. Journal of Family Psychology24(5): 551–559.
27.
RadloffLS (1977) The CES-D Scale: A self-report depression scale for research in the general population. Applied Psychological Measurement1(3): 385–401.
28.
ReisHTGableSL (2015) Responsiveness. Current Opinion in Psychology1: 67–71.
29.
RitholzMDBesteMEdwardsSS, et al. (2013) Impact of continuous glucose monitoring on diabetes management and marital relationships of adults with type 1 diabetes and their spouses: A qualitative study. Diabetic Medicine47: 54.
30.
RobbinsMLMehlMRSmithHL, et al. (2013) Linguistic indicators of patient, couple, and family adjustment following breast cancer. Psycho-Oncology22: 1501–1508.
31.
RohrbaughMJShohamVSkoyenJA, et al. (2012) We-talk, communal coping, and cessation success in a couple-focused intervention for health-compromised smokers. Family Process51(1): 107–121.
32.
SchaeferMTOlsonDH (1981) Assessing intimacy: The pair inventory. Journal of Marital and Family Therapy7(1): 47–60.
TalbotFNouwenAGingrasJ, et al. (1997) The assessment of diabetes-related cognitive and social factors: The Multidimensional Diabetes Questionnaire. Journal of Behavioral Medicine20(3): 291–311.
35.
ToobertDJGlasgowRE (1994) Assessing diabetes self-management: The summary of diabetes self-care activities questionnaire. In: BradleyC. (Ed.), Handbook of psychology and diabetes: A guide to psychological measurement in diabetes research and practice (pp. 351–375). Langhorne, PA: Harwood Academic Publishers/Gordon.
36.
TrudeauKJDanoff-BurgSRevensonTA, et al. (2003) Agency and communion in people with rheumatoid arthritis. Sex Roles49(7): 303–311.
37.
Van VleetMHelgesonVS (2016) The impact of communal coping on relationship well-being and perceptions of diabetes stressors among couples coping with type diabetes2. In: Paper presented at the international association of relationship research, Toronto, ON, Canada, 20–24 July.
38.
ZajdelMHelgesonVSSeltmanH, et al, et al. (2016) Measuring communal coping in type 2 diabetes using a multi-method approach. In: Paper presented at the 37th annual meeting of the Society of Behavioral Medicine, Washington, DC, 30 March–2 April.
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.
