Pain Behavior, Spouse Responsiveness, and Marital Satisfaction in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Williamson, David; Robinson, Michael E.; Melamed, Barbara G.

doi:10.1177/01454455970211006

Cited by 51 publications

(36 citation statements)

References 29 publications

Supporting

Mentioning

Contrasting

Unclassified

Order By: Relevance

“…Previous studies have shown that marital satisfaction reflects a complex set of interactions between partners and can also be influenced by the physical health of the spouses (20). Therefore, we hypothesized that both coping styles and disease activity would be associated with marital satisfaction.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Marital satisfaction in couples with rheumatoid arthritis

Bermas

Tucker

Winkelman

et al. 2000

Arthritis & Rheumatism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Objective. To understand correlates of marital satisfaction in persons with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) and their spouses.Methods. In a cross-sectional survey, 79 persons with RA and 78 spouses completed the Kansas Marital Satisfaction Scale, the revised Ways of Coping Questionnaire scales, and the Health Assessment Questionnaire. A series of linear regression analyses were then performed to investigate correlates of marital satisfaction for patients and spouses.Results. Seventy-six percent of patients were women. Mean patient age was 56.5 years (Ϯ 12.5 years), number of years married was 30.7 (Ϯ 13.5), and duration of RA was 14.2 years (Ϯ 9.0 years). Demographic features of spouses resembled those of patients. Patients and spouses were generally satisfied with their marriages. Linear regression analyses showed that lower marital satisfaction in patients was associated with higher education level (P Ͻ 0.01), patient's greater use of escape into fantasy (P Ͻ 0.01), patient's greater use of finding blame (P Ͻ 0.05), and spouse's higher use of escape into fantasy (P Ͻ 0.001). Spouses less satisfied with their marriages were more likely to use passive acceptance (P Ͻ 0.05) and less likely to find blame (P Ͻ 0.05). Female spouses were less likely to be satisfied in their marriages (P Ͻ 0.01) than male spouses.Conclusions. This study indicates that certain passive coping styles are associated with lower marital satisfaction in persons with RA and their spouses. More highly educated patients and female spouses are also less satisfied in their marriages. These cross-sectional correlations should not be regarded as causal and should be examined further in longitudinal studies.

show abstract

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 98%

Marital satisfaction in couples with rheumatoid arthritis

Bermas

Tucker

Winkelman

et al. 2000

Arthritis & Rheumatism

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

show abstract

“…29 Another research team found that solicitous spouse responses were positively associated with pain interference. 102 Lousberg et al 50 found that ICPs' perceptions of spouse solicitous responses were not related to walking time or exertion measured by heart rate; however, spouses' reports of their solicitous responses were significantly and positively related to ICPs' activity limitations. Researchers have found that marital satisfaction moderated the relationship between disability and solicitous spouse responses such that ICPs who are maritally satisfied exhibited a stronger relationship between solicitous spouse responses and disability than ICPs who are not as satisfied within their marriage.…”

Section: Physical Disability and Activity Limitationsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Chronic Pain in a Couples Context: A Review and Integration of Theoretical Models and Empirical Evidence

Leonard

Caño

Johansen

2006

The Journal of Pain

221

198

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

Researchers have become increasingly interested in the social context of chronic pain conditions. The purpose of this article is to provide an integrated review of the evidence linking marital functioning with chronic pain outcomes including pain severity, physical disability, pain behaviors, and psychological distress. We first present an overview of existing models that identify an association between marital functioning and pain variables. We then review the empirical evidence for a relationship between pain variables and several marital functioning variables including marital satisfaction, spousal support, spouse responses to pain, and marital interaction. On the basis of the evidence, we present a working model of marital and pain variables, identify gaps in the literature, and offer recommendations for research and clinical work.Perspective-The authors provide a comprehensive review of the relationships between marital functioning and chronic pain variables to advance future research and help treatment providers understand marital processes in chronic pain.

show abstract

“…Further, the literature reports that patients perceive greater punishing respsonses than spouses perceive, or that there are no mean differences in perceptions of punishing responses (Cano et al, 2004b;Williamson et al, 1997). No differences between patient and spouse perceptions of distracting responses have been found (Williamson et al, 1997).…”

Section: Agreement On Spouse Responses To Painmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Researchers have found that patients perceive fewer spouse solicitous responses or that there are no patient-spouse differences in perceptions of solicitousness (Cano et al, 2004b;Lousberg et al, 1992;Williamson et al, 1997). Further, the literature reports that patients perceive greater punishing respsonses than spouses perceive, or that there are no mean differences in perceptions of punishing responses (Cano et al, 2004b;Williamson et al, 1997).…”

Section: Agreement On Spouse Responses To Painmentioning

confidence: 99%

Perceived Spouse Responses to Pain: The Level of Agreement in Couple Dyads and the Role of Catastrophizing, Marital Satisfaction, and Depression

et al. 2006

View full text Add to dashboard Cite

The primary objective of this study was to examine whether individuals with chronic pain ("participants") and their spouses agree on perceptions of solicitous, distracting, and punishing spouse responses to pain. The second aim was to examine the role of participant catastrophizing (a negative mental set about pain), participant and spouse marital satisfaction, and participant and spouse depression in participant perceptions of spouse responses, spouse perceptions of their responses, and agreement between participants and spouses. Individuals with chronic musculoskeletal pain and their spouses (N=108 couples) completed questionnaire packets. Examination of overall group averages (participants vs. spouses) indicated little or no differences between participant and spouse ratings. Examination of individual agreement in participant and spouse ratings indicated substantial disagreement. The proposed moderators predicted both participant and spouse perceptions and jointly made minor contributions to dyad agreement. Although neither participant nor spouse perceptions of spouse responses are necessarily a reflection of actual behavior, the lack of agreement in this study suggests it may not be valid to use only patient perceptions in research related to spouse responses.

show abstract

Pain Behavior, Spouse Responsiveness, and Marital Satisfaction in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis

Cited by 51 publications

References 29 publications

Marital satisfaction in couples with rheumatoid arthritis

Marital satisfaction in couples with rheumatoid arthritis

Chronic Pain in a Couples Context: A Review and Integration of Theoretical Models and Empirical Evidence

Perceived Spouse Responses to Pain: The Level of Agreement in Couple Dyads and the Role of Catastrophizing, Marital Satisfaction, and Depression

Contact Info

Product

Resources

About