Classifying Married Adults Diagnosed With Alpha‐1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Based on Spousal Communication Patterns Using Latent Class Analysis: Insights for Intervention

Abstract

Married adults are increasingly exposed to test results that indicate an increased genetic risk for adult-onset conditions. For example, a SERPINA1 mutation, associated with alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency (AATD), predisposes affected individuals to diseases such as chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and cancer, which are often detected in adulthood. Married adults are likely to discuss genetic test results with their spouses, and interpersonal research suggests that spouses’ communication patterns differ. Latent class analysis was used to identify subgroups of spousal communication patterns about AATD results from a sample of married adults in the Alpha-1 Research Registry (N = 130). A five-class model was identified, and the subgroups were consistent with existing spousal-communication typologies. This study also showed that genetic beliefs (e.g., genetic stigma), emotions, and experiences (e.g., insurance difficulties) covaried with membership in particular subgroups. Understanding these differences can serve as the foundation for the creation of effective, targeted communications interventions to address the specific needs and conversational patterns of different kinds of couples.

Congruence‐Incongruence Patterns in Alpha‐1 Antitrypsin Deficiency Couples’ Genetic Determinist Beliefs and Perceived Control over Genes: Implications for Clinical and Public Health Genomic Communication

“…The data were drawn from a larger study; data on a larger set of registered members of the Alpha-1 Research Registry (ARR) located at the Medical University of South Carolina (MUSC) (Smith, Wienke, & Baker, 2014a) and different variables on a smaller set of the spousal pairs (Smith, Wienke, & Coffman, 2014b) have been presented. The procedures are described in detail in those studies, and are briefly described here.…”

“…Of the 179 eligible members who started the survey, 130 completed it; on average, this took 20 minutes. In the previous study of the couples (Smith et al 2014a), 58 spouses completed the survey, but only 50 pairs could be matched and were analyzed. Since that time, more spouses completed the survey and we were able to complete more matches, resulting in 59 couples available for analysis in this study.…”