Endorsement of Interpersonal Strategies for Dealing with Hypothetical Everyday Arthritis Problems as a Function of Marital Status, Gender, and Problem Severity

Dyadic support across contraceptive decision-making among young adult breast cancer survivors and their partners

OBJECTIVE

The purpose of this study is to explore the role of dyadic support across the contraceptive decision-making process between young adult breast cancer (YABC) survivors and their partners.

RESEARCH APPROACH

Semi-structured interviews with YABC survivors and their partners.

PARTICIPANTS

Twenty-five young adult breast cancer survivors and their partners (n = 50). Survivors reported an average age of 36.9 years (SD = 4.30) and the majority self-identified as white (86.2%).

METHODOLOGICAL APPROACH

Thematic analysis approach with dyads as the primary unit of analysis, guided by the dyadic decision-making framework and the Theory of Gender and Power.

RESULTS

Perceived lack of contraceptive options due to a history of hormone-sensitive cancer, perceived infertility, and contraception as a result of cancer treatment (e.g., hysterectomy) contributed to the contraceptive decision context for survivors and their partners. Contraceptive support varied across couples depending on the cancer-specific context, where communication, sharing responsibility, and respecting bodily autonomy revealed as supportive behaviors. Other social influences including survivors' desire to conceive biologically and family planning desires also related to partner supportive behaviors.

INTERPRETATIONS

YABC survivors face specific challenges to contraceptive decision-making where partners can offer supportive behaviors. Health care providers can also support couples by engaging in triadic communication about contraception and family planning.

IMPLICATIONS FOR PSYCHOSOCIAL PROVIDERS OR POLICY

Psychosocial providers can support couples by encouraging them to talk together about contraception and highlighting the importance of triadic communication with a healthcare provider to support shared decision-making and alignment of contraceptive decisions with family planning desires.

Knowing you are there makes the difference: perceived social support, preferences for using support, and health

Using cluster analysis, we investigated whether perceived social support and individual differences in preferences to use support combined to form distinct profiles. Self-report data were collected from U.S. adults (N = 454; aged 40-90, M_age = 55.37, SD = 9.73). Four profiles were identified: disengaged, interpersonally connected, isolated independent, and connected independent. Profiles characterized by high perceived support were associated with better overall health, even among those who preferred not to use support; men and those not married or cohabiting were less likely to be in these profiles. Implications for understanding associations between social support and health and the identification of at-risk groups are discussed.

Spousal understanding and marital satisfaction in pain patients and their spouses

The current study tested the hypotheses that knee osteoarthritis (OA) patients and spouses who report more spousal understanding of patient's pain would report greater marital satisfaction. A total of 124 couples completed interviews at three time points across 18 months. Results from dyadic analyses showed that patients who felt more understood by their spouse report, and have spouses who report, higher marital satisfaction concurrently. In addition, patients who felt more understood by their spouse reported higher marital satisfaction over time. Spouses' reports of understanding also had a significant influence on the patients' and their own marital satisfaction concurrently. Results highlight the importance of spouses understanding knee OA patients' pain for both dyad members' marital satisfaction.

Everyday problem solving across the adult life span: solution diversity and efficacy

Everyday problem solving involves examining the solutions that individuals generate when faced with problems that take place in their everyday experiences. Problems can range from medication adherence and meal preparation to disagreeing with a physician over a recommended medical procedure or compromising with extended family members over where to host Thanksgiving dinner. Across the life span, research has demonstrated divergent patterns of change in performance based on the type of everyday problems used as well as based on the way that problem-solving efficacy is operationally defined. Advancing age is associated with worsening performance when tasks involve single-solution or fluency-based definitions of effectiveness. However, when efficacy is defined in terms of the diversity of strategies used, as well as by the social and emotional impact of solution choice on the individual, performance is remarkably stable and sometimes even improves in the latter half of life. This article discusses how both of these approaches to everyday problem solving inform research on the influence that aging has on everyday functioning.