Experiencing an Intimate Partner’s Breast Cancer: Attachment, Caregiving, and Burden in Men

Abstract

Objective: This study examined interrelationships among adult attachment orientations, caregiving, and caregiver burden in men of female partners with breast cancer, and tested whether caregiving patterns mediated associations between men’s attachment orientations and their self-reported caregiver burden. Method: The participants were 124 male partners of women with breast cancer. These participants completed assessments related to attachment, caregiving, and caregiver burden. Path models examined the associations between constructs and tested mediational effects. Results: Findings demonstrated significant associations between men’s adult attachment orientations and their experience of caregiver burden. In addition, the maintenance of proximity in caregiving completely mediated the respective associations of attachment security and attachment avoidance to caregiver health problems, on one hand, and to the caregiver’s self-esteem (e.g., another indicator for caregiver burden), on the other. Moreover, we found a direct effect of attachment avoidance on health problems. Conclusions: This study highlighted the importance of addressing adult attachment dispositions and caregiving to understanding the relational processes implicated in caregiver burden. The results support the conclusion that men’s adult attachment orientations and caregiving patterns toward their female partners with breast cancer are relevant contributors to men’s perceptions of caregiver burden.

Funding

This study was supported by a doctoral grant (SFRH/BD/72730/2010) from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology attributed to the first author.

Notes

1. The authors wish to thank the reviewers for their insights regarding attachment anxiety effects.

Additional information

Funding

This study was supported by a doctoral grant (SFRH/BD/72730/2010) from the Portuguese Foundation for Science and Technology attributed to the first author.

Notes on contributors

Marisa Ávila

Marisa Ávila, MS, Tânia Brandão, MS, Joaquim Luís Coimbra, PhD, and Paula Mena Matos, PhD, are affiliated with the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences and the Centre for Psychology, University of Porto, Portugal. Frederick Lopez, PhD, is affiliated with the University of Houston.

Tânia Brandão

Marisa Ávila, MS, Tânia Brandão, MS, Joaquim Luís Coimbra, PhD, and Paula Mena Matos, PhD, are affiliated with the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences and the Centre for Psychology, University of Porto, Portugal. Frederick Lopez, PhD, is affiliated with the University of Houston.

Joaquim Luís Coimbra

Marisa Ávila, MS, Tânia Brandão, MS, Joaquim Luís Coimbra, PhD, and Paula Mena Matos, PhD, are affiliated with the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences and the Centre for Psychology, University of Porto, Portugal. Frederick Lopez, PhD, is affiliated with the University of Houston.

Frederick Lopez

Marisa Ávila, MS, Tânia Brandão, MS, Joaquim Luís Coimbra, PhD, and Paula Mena Matos, PhD, are affiliated with the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences and the Centre for Psychology, University of Porto, Portugal. Frederick Lopez, PhD, is affiliated with the University of Houston.

Paula Mena Matos

Marisa Ávila, MS, Tânia Brandão, MS, Joaquim Luís Coimbra, PhD, and Paula Mena Matos, PhD, are affiliated with the Faculty of Psychology and Education Sciences and the Centre for Psychology, University of Porto, Portugal. Frederick Lopez, PhD, is affiliated with the University of Houston.