Perceived partner support and post-traumatic symptoms after an acute cardiac event:A longitudinal study

Abstract

Objective Cardiac disease induced post-traumatic stress symptoms (CDI-PTSS) have been associated with negative consequences for patients’ mental and physical health. Identifying risk factors as well as potential buffers is necessary for understanding the development and maintenance of CDI-PTSS. The current study focused on the mediating and moderating role played by patients’ perceptions of their partners’ ways of providing support (active engagement, overprotection, and protective buffering) in the development and stabilization of CDI-PTSS levels over time. Method Male patients ( N = 106) were recruited at hospitalization (T1) and completed the study’s questionnaires at two time points: approximately four months after hospital discharge (T2) and approximately eight months after discharge (T3). Results Structual equation modeling was used to test the study hypotheses. All three forms of T2 perceived partner support were positively associated with T2 CDI-PTSS levels which, in turn, were positively associated with T3 CDI-PTSS levels. The linear association between T2 and T3 CDI-PTSS was positive but decreased as perceived partner protective buffering levels increased. Conclusions In the context of CDI-PTSS, perceived partner support seems to have a different effect than it has in non-traumatic illness contexts. Interventions for couples coping with CDI-PTSS should be designed accordingly.

It takes two hearts to cope with an artificial one: the necessity of applying a dyadic approach in the context of left ventricular assist device transplantation—Opinion paper

“…Patients whose partners engaged in a protective buffering coping style (i.e., tendency to deny and to hide worries from the patient; Coyne and Smith, 1994 ), presented higher depression levels but only when perceiving their partners' buffering coping style as low, thus not protective (Vilchinsky et al, 2011 ). In a recent publication, we also detected that patients' perceived partners' protective buffering was associated with their cardiac-disease-induced posttraumatic stress symptoms (CDI-PTSS) over time (George-Levi et al, 2022 ). Interestingly, patients' CDI-PTSS was associated with distress and fear of illness progression among their partners (Eisenberg et al, 2022 ); and cardiac patients' partners' depression was found to associate with lower marital satisfaction of both patient and partner (Dekel et al, 2013 ).…”

Recognizing and Appreciating the Partner’s Support Protects Relationship Satisfaction during Cardiac Illness

“…On the one hand, partners might show intense psychological distress due to caregiving activities also affecting the balance between given and received support in the couple [8][9][10]. On the other hand, supportive partner behaviors could have a positive effect on patient psychological reaction [11,12], and on cardiac self-management outcomes, for example, by increasing the levels of medication adherence [13] and patient engagement [13,14]. These dynamics of interdependence and mutual influence between partners could be explained by the concept of dyadic coping (DC; [15,16]), i.e., the couple's level of ability to cope with daily or major stress situations together.…”