Bertschi Isabella C, Meier Fabienne, Bodenmann Guy
Clinical Psychology for Children/Adolescents and Couples/Families, Department of Psychology, University of Zurich, Zurich, Switzerland.
Front Psychol. 2021 Mar 1;12:624609. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2021.624609. eCollection 2021.
Chronically disabling health impairments affect an increasing number of people worldwide. In close relationships, disability is an interpersonal experience. Psychological distress is thus common in patients as well as their spouses. Dyadic coping can alleviate stress and promote adjustment in couples who face disabling health impairments. Much research has focused on dyadic coping with cancer. However, other health problems such as physical and sensory impairments are also common and may strongly impact couple relationships. In order to promote couples' optimal adjustment to impaired health, the identification of disability-related relationship challenges is required. Furthermore, ways in which dyadic coping with these challenges may benefit couples could inform researchers and practitioners how to support couples in coping with health impairments. Accordingly, the aims of this study were to systematically review dyadic challenges and dyadic coping when one partner has a chronically disabling physical or sensory impairment. Out of 873 articles identified through database searches, 36 studies met inclusion criteria. The disability-related dyadic challenges identified in the review were changed roles and responsibilities within the couple, altered communication, compromised sexual intimacy, and reduced social participation. These challenges were reported to burden both partners and the couple relationship. Dyadic adjustment benefitted from a we-perspective, i.e., when couples viewed the disability as a shared challenge and engaged in conjoint dyadic coping. The results suggest that patient/care recipient and partner/caregiver roles should be de-emphasized and that disability should be recognized as an interpersonal experience.
慢性致残性健康损伤影响着全球越来越多的人。在亲密关系中，残疾是一种人际体验。因此，心理困扰在患者及其配偶中都很常见。二元应对可以减轻压力，并促进面临致残性健康损伤的夫妻的适应。许多研究都集中在二元应对癌症方面。然而，其他健康问题，如身体和感官损伤也很常见，并且可能对夫妻关系产生重大影响。为了促进夫妻对健康受损的最佳适应，需要识别与残疾相关的关系挑战。此外，二元应对这些挑战可能使夫妻受益的方式，可以为研究人员和从业者提供如何支持夫妻应对健康损伤的信息。因此，本研究的目的是系统回顾当一方伴侣患有慢性致残性身体或感官损伤时的二元挑战和二元应对。在通过数据库搜索确定的873篇文章中，有36项研究符合纳入标准。综述中确定的与残疾相关的二元挑战包括夫妻内部角色和责任的变化、沟通改变、性亲密关系受损以及社会参与减少。据报道，这些挑战给双方伴侣和夫妻关系都带来了负担。二元适应受益于一种“我们”的视角，即当夫妻将残疾视为共同的挑战并参与联合二元应对时。结果表明，应淡化患者/受照顾者和伴侣/照顾者的角色，并且应将残疾视为一种人际体验。
