Brosseau Danielle C, McDonald Marvin J, Stephen Joanne E
Counselling Psychology, Trinity Western University, Langley, British Columbia, Canada.
Fam Syst Health. 2011 Jun;29(2):114-26. doi: 10.1037/a0024155.
A considerable amount of research has investigated symptoms of posttraumatic stress in cancer patients while the occurrence and correlates of secondary traumatic stress on patients' intimate partners has yet to be explored. This study examined the prevalence of secondary traumatic stress symptoms (Modified Secondary Trauma Questionnaire) in partners of cancer patients and evaluated the association of these symptoms with patients' posttraumatic stress symptoms (Impact of Event Scale-Revised). The study also investigated the moderation effect of relationship quality (Marital Satisfaction Inventory-Revised) on the association between patients' and partners' posttraumatic and secondary traumatic stress respectively. A heterogeneous sample of 90 patient-partner dyads was recruited through a provincial cancer agency. Multiple symptoms of secondary traumatic stress were reported by 23% of partners. These symptoms were experienced at a clinically significant level by 10% of all participating partners. Although patients' and partners' traumatic stress symptoms were correlated (r = .44, p < .001), only one dyad consisted of both a patient and a partner scoring clinically significant levels of traumatic stress symptoms. Therefore, of the 90 dyads in the study, 18% included at least one partner reporting clinically significant levels of traumatic stress. Relationship quality accounted for 11% of the variance in secondary traumatic stress, in addition to the 19% already accounted for by patients' posttraumatic stress. Relationship quality also exhibited buffering effects benefiting couples with higher quality relationships. Implications of results for future research and holistic health care models are discussed.
大量研究调查了癌症患者的创伤后应激症状，而患者亲密伴侣的继发性创伤应激的发生情况及其相关因素尚未得到探索。本研究调查了癌症患者伴侣中继发性创伤应激症状（改良继发性创伤问卷）的患病率，并评估了这些症状与患者创伤后应激症状（事件影响量表修订版）之间的关联。该研究还调查了关系质量（修订后的婚姻满意度量表）对患者和伴侣的创伤后应激与继发性创伤应激之间关联的调节作用。通过省级癌症机构招募了90对患者-伴侣异质性样本。23%的伴侣报告了多种继发性创伤应激症状。所有参与研究的伴侣中有10%在临床上有明显的这些症状。虽然患者和伴侣的创伤应激症状存在相关性（r = .44，p < .001），但只有一对患者和伴侣的创伤应激症状得分在临床上有明显水平。因此，在该研究的90对伴侣中，18%至少有一方伴侣报告临床上有明显水平的创伤应激。关系质量除了占患者创伤后应激已解释方差的19%外，还占继发性创伤应激方差的11%。关系质量对关系质量较高的夫妻也表现出缓冲作用。讨论了研究结果对未来研究和整体医疗保健模式的意义。
