TY - JOUR
T1 - Active Engagement, Protective Buffering, and Depressive Symptoms in Young-Midlife Couples Surviving Cancer
T2 - The Roles of Age and Sex
AU - Lyons, Karen S.
AU - Gorman, Jessica R.
AU - Larkin, Brandon S.
AU - Duncan, Grace
AU - Hayes-Lattin, Brandon
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
Copyright © 2022 Lyons, Gorman, Larkin, Duncan and Hayes-Lattin.
PY - 2022/2/17
Y1 - 2022/2/17
N2 - Objective: Cancer researchers have found midlife couples to have poorer outcomes compared to older couples due to the off-time nature of the illness for them. It is unknown if young couples (aged 18–39), who are under-represented in cancer studies and overlooked for supportive programs, are at further risk. This study explored the moderating roles of survivor age and sex on the associations between active engagement and protective buffering and depressive symptoms in couples surviving cancer. Methods: The exploratory study comprised 49 couples (aged 27–58) 1–3 years post-diagnosis. Multilevel modeling was used to explore the moderating roles of survivor age and sex, controlling for interdependent data. Results: Approximately, 37% of survivors and 27% of partners met clinical criteria for further assessment of depression, with 50% of couples having at least one member meeting the criteria. Survivors and their partners did not significantly differ on depressive symptoms, active engagement, or protective buffering. Male survivors reported significantly higher levels of active engagement by their partners than female survivors and female survivors reported significantly higher levels of protective buffering by their partners than male survivors. We found some evidence to suggest that survivor age and sex may play moderating roles between active engagement and protective buffering and depressive symptoms. Older partners and female survivors appeared to experience more positive effects from engaging in positive dyadic behaviors than younger partners and male survivors. Conclusion: Findings not only confirm the important role of dyadic behaviors for couples surviving cancer together, but also the important roles of survivor age and sex may play in whether such behaviors are associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. Future research that examines these complex associations over time and across the adult life span in diverse populations is needed.
AB - Objective: Cancer researchers have found midlife couples to have poorer outcomes compared to older couples due to the off-time nature of the illness for them. It is unknown if young couples (aged 18–39), who are under-represented in cancer studies and overlooked for supportive programs, are at further risk. This study explored the moderating roles of survivor age and sex on the associations between active engagement and protective buffering and depressive symptoms in couples surviving cancer. Methods: The exploratory study comprised 49 couples (aged 27–58) 1–3 years post-diagnosis. Multilevel modeling was used to explore the moderating roles of survivor age and sex, controlling for interdependent data. Results: Approximately, 37% of survivors and 27% of partners met clinical criteria for further assessment of depression, with 50% of couples having at least one member meeting the criteria. Survivors and their partners did not significantly differ on depressive symptoms, active engagement, or protective buffering. Male survivors reported significantly higher levels of active engagement by their partners than female survivors and female survivors reported significantly higher levels of protective buffering by their partners than male survivors. We found some evidence to suggest that survivor age and sex may play moderating roles between active engagement and protective buffering and depressive symptoms. Older partners and female survivors appeared to experience more positive effects from engaging in positive dyadic behaviors than younger partners and male survivors. Conclusion: Findings not only confirm the important role of dyadic behaviors for couples surviving cancer together, but also the important roles of survivor age and sex may play in whether such behaviors are associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. Future research that examines these complex associations over time and across the adult life span in diverse populations is needed.
KW - active engagement
KW - communication
KW - depression
KW - dyadic coping
KW - dyadic illness management
KW - protective buffering
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UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/citedby.url?scp=85125855677&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.816626
DO - 10.3389/fpsyg.2022.816626
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85125855677
SN - 1664-1078
VL - 13
JO - Frontiers in Psychology
JF - Frontiers in Psychology
M1 - 816626
ER -