Fox Chase Cancer Center, Cancer Prevention and Control, Cheltenham, PA, USA.
J Cancer Surviv. 2010 Mar;4(1):74-85. doi: 10.1007/s11764-009-0109-y. Epub 2009 Dec 6.
The present study evaluated intimacy as a mechanism for the effects of relationship-enhancing (self-disclosure, mutual constructive communication) and relationship-compromising communication (holding back, mutual avoidance, and demand-withdraw communication) on couples' psychological distress.
Seventy-five men diagnosed with localized prostate cancer in the past year and their partners completed surveys about communication, intimacy, and distress.
Multi-level models with the couple as unit of analyses indicated that the association between mutual constructive communication, mutual avoidance, and patient demand-partner withdraw and distress could be accounted for by their influence on relationship intimacy. Intimacy did not mediate associations between self-disclosure, holding back, and partner demand-patient withdraw communication and distress.
DISCUSSION/CONCLUSIONS: These findings indicate that the way in which couples talk about cancer-related concerns as well as the degree to which one or both partners avoid talking about cancer-related concerns can either facilitate or reduce relationship intimacy, and that it is largely by this mechanism that these three communication strategies impact psychological distress.
Relationship intimacy and how patients and partners communicate to achieve this intimacy is important for the psychological adjustment of early stage prostate cancer survivors and their partners.
本研究评估了亲密关系作为一种机制，探讨了增进关系的沟通（自我表露、相互建设性沟通）和破坏关系的沟通（保留、相互回避和需求-回避沟通）对夫妻心理困扰的影响。
75 名在过去一年中被诊断为局限性前列腺癌的男性及其伴侣完成了关于沟通、亲密关系和困扰的调查。
以夫妻为单位的多层次模型表明，相互建设性沟通、相互回避以及患者需求-伴侣回避与困扰之间的关联，可以用它们对关系亲密程度的影响来解释。亲密关系并不能解释自我表露、保留和伴侣需求-患者回避沟通与困扰之间的关联。
讨论/结论：这些发现表明，夫妻谈论癌症相关问题的方式以及一方或双方回避谈论癌症相关问题的程度，可以促进或降低关系亲密程度，而且这三种沟通策略主要通过这种机制影响心理困扰。
亲密关系以及患者和伴侣如何沟通以实现这种亲密关系，对早期前列腺癌幸存者及其伴侣的心理适应非常重要。
