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Abstract
The relationship between husbands' and wives' individual stress responses (intrusive thoughts and avoidance) and symptoms or anxiety and depression was examined shortly after diagnosis in a sample of 58 patients with cancer (43 women, 15 men) and their spouses. Marital partners' symptoms of anxiety or depression were positively correlated with one another's symptoms; however, the patients' and spouses' intrusive thoughts and avoidance were not correlated. The male patients' avoidance was positively correlated with their wives' anxiety or depression. In regression analyses, patients “avoidance uniquely predicted greater distress in both male and female patients. Male patients' avoidance also uniquely predicted greater distress in their wives. No significant interactions were found between patients' and spouses” avoidance in predicting distress in cither partner.
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Nancy Worsham
Dr. Worsham is Department of Psychology, Gonzaga University. Spokane. WA. The research was supported by Grant No. MH438I9 from the National Institute of Mental Health and Grant No. P30CA22435 from the National Cancer Institute (Bruce E. Compas, principal investigator
