Coping, life-style changes, health perceptions, and martial adjustment in middle-aged women and men with cardiovascular disease and their spouses.

This descriptive study was designed to compare the coping responses, life-style changes, health perceptions, and current marital adjustment in 11 middle-aged women (CD women) with those of 37 men (CD men) who had been diagnosed as having cardiovascular disease. A secondary purpose was to compare their spouses' responses on these same measures. Participants were comparable on demographic and illness characteristics. CD women differed from CD men for the three coping responses of distancing, accepting responsibility, and planful problem-solving; for the total health perceptions scale; and for the current health and resistance to illness subscales. The CD women and CD men differed from their partners in total health perceptions, current health, and resistance to illness. CD women and their husbands were more dissimilar in their coping responses than were CD men and their wives. Age and pre-illness satisfaction were significant predictor variables for the coping strategies of distancing and accepting responsibility.