TY - JOUR
T1 - From stress communication to depressive symptoms among couples facing vision impairment
T2 - The mediating role of dyadic coping
AU - Alves, Stephanie
AU - Weitkamp, Katharina
AU - Breitenstein, Christina
AU - Bodenmann, Guy
N1 - Publisher Copyright:
© 2024 The Authors
PY - 2024/9/1
Y1 - 2024/9/1
N2 - Vision impairment is considered one of the most common disability worldwide, can induce considerable stress for both patients and their spouses and may subsequently affect couples' psychological functioning. This study examined whether dyadic coping (DC) mediated the association between stress communication (SC) and depressive symptoms among couples coping with one partner's vision impairment. A total of 99 Swiss couples completed questionnaires assessing SC, various types of DC, and depressive symptoms. An Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model was performed. Results showed that (1) the more one partner communicated stress, the less the other partner perceived negative DC and, consequently, the less the partner perceiving negative DC reported depressive symptoms; (2) the more partners communicated stress, the more they and their partners engaged in common DC and, consequently, the less the partner engaging in common DC reported depressive symptoms; (3) the more partners communicated stress, the less they and their partners engaged in protective buffering and, consequently, the less the partner engaging in protective buffering reported depressive symptoms. This pattern of associations occurred similarly for patients and their spouses. Our findings underline the interpersonal experience of vision impairment within couples and the importance of fostering explicit SC and common DC in psychosocial rehabilitation interventions directed at couples facing one partner's vision impairment.
AB - Vision impairment is considered one of the most common disability worldwide, can induce considerable stress for both patients and their spouses and may subsequently affect couples' psychological functioning. This study examined whether dyadic coping (DC) mediated the association between stress communication (SC) and depressive symptoms among couples coping with one partner's vision impairment. A total of 99 Swiss couples completed questionnaires assessing SC, various types of DC, and depressive symptoms. An Actor-Partner Interdependence Mediation Model was performed. Results showed that (1) the more one partner communicated stress, the less the other partner perceived negative DC and, consequently, the less the partner perceiving negative DC reported depressive symptoms; (2) the more partners communicated stress, the more they and their partners engaged in common DC and, consequently, the less the partner engaging in common DC reported depressive symptoms; (3) the more partners communicated stress, the less they and their partners engaged in protective buffering and, consequently, the less the partner engaging in protective buffering reported depressive symptoms. This pattern of associations occurred similarly for patients and their spouses. Our findings underline the interpersonal experience of vision impairment within couples and the importance of fostering explicit SC and common DC in psychosocial rehabilitation interventions directed at couples facing one partner's vision impairment.
KW - APIMeM
KW - Depressive symptoms
KW - Dyadic coping
KW - Protective buffering
KW - Stress communication
KW - Vision impairment
UR - http://www.scopus.com/inward/record.url?scp=85200515922&partnerID=8YFLogxK
U2 - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117171
DO - 10.1016/j.socscimed.2024.117171
M3 - Article
AN - SCOPUS:85200515922
SN - 0277-9536
VL - 357
JO - Social Science and Medicine
JF - Social Science and Medicine
M1 - 117171
ER -