Discrepancies between patients' and partners' perceptions of unsupportive behavior in chronic obstructive pulmonary disease.

Abstract

The literature on chronic diseases indicates that partner support, as perceived by patients, contributes to well-being of patients in either a positive or a negative way. Previous studies indicated that patients' and partners' perceptions of unsupportive partner behavior are only moderately related. Our aim was (1) to investigate whether discrepancies between patients' and partners' perceptions of two types of unsupportive partner behavior—overprotection and protective buffering—were associated with the level of distress reported by patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) and (2) to evaluate whether the direction of the differences between patients' and partners' perceptions was associated with distress (i.e., whether patient distress was associated with greater patient or greater partner reports of unsupportive partner behavior). A cross-sectional study was performed using the data of a sample of 68 COPD patients and their spouses. Distress was assessed using the Hopkins Symptom Checklist-25. Patients' and partners' perceptions of unsupportive partner behavior were assessed with a questionnaire measuring overprotection and protective buffering. Distress was independently associated with patients' perceptions of protective buffering and discrepancies in spouses' perceptions of overprotection. Regarding the direction of the discrepancy, we found that greater partner reports of overprotection as compared with patient reports were related to more distress in COPD patients. Our study showed that patients' distress was associated not only with patients' perceptions, but also with discrepancies between patients' and partners' perceptions of unsupportive partner behavior.

What are the perceived barriers, facilitators and attitudes to exercise for women with rheumatoid arthritis? A qualitative study

“…Participants reported that social influences had both a positive and negative effect on participation in exercise, in regards to balancing uptake with not causing further worry or upset to caregivers. This finding is supported in a study by Snippe et al [28], where overprotective behaviour by partners could act as a barrier to activities of people with chronic obstructive airways disease. Another advantage of walking is that it does not require expensive equipment and can be done in convenient locations, as long as they were considered safe.…”

Informal caregivers of patients with COPD: Home Sweet Home?

“…This can result in distress for patients, which, in turn, has a negative influence on the informal caregivers' quality of life [16].…”

“…Patients' self-care behaviour may decrease with higher levels of caring behaviour from informal caregivers [15]. Informal caregivers can be overprotective [16], and COPD patients living together with an informal caregiver may be more dependent in instrumental activities of daily living [14].…”

A comparison of younger and older couples coping with breast cancer : examining the relationship among mutuality, dyadic coping, and quality of life of patients and partners.

“…Similarly, Snippe, Maters, Wempe, Hagedoorn, and Sanderman (2012) identified the emotional distress was independently associated with self-reported perceptions of COPD patients' use of protective buffering and discrepancies in the partners' overprotection.…”

“…The application of this conceptualization of dyadic coping to chronic illnesses like rheumatic disease , multiple sclerosis (Pakenham, 1998;Upchurch at al., 2003), and COPD (Snippe, Maters, Wempe, Hagedoorn, & Sanderman, 2012) has produced evidence for higher distress and lower levels of marital satisfaction for dyads presenting incongruent coping styles. More specifically, identified four clusters of couples' coping (effortful partnership, problem solvers with emotion coping, minimalist copers and couples where the patient copes alone).…”