HIV and cardiometabolic disorders including hypertension and diabetes pose a serious double threat in Malawi. Supportive couple relationships may be an important resource for managing these ...conditions. According to the theory of communal coping, couples will more effectively manage illness if they view the illness as "our problem" (shared illness appraisal) and are united in shared behavioral efforts.
This study qualitatively investigated communal coping of 25 couples living with HIV and hypertension or diabetes in Zomba, Malawi. Partners were interviewed separately regarding relationship quality, shared illness appraisal, communal coping, and dyadic management of illness.
Most participants (80%) were living with HIV, and more than half were also living with hypertension. Most participants expressed high levels of unity and the view that illness was "our problem." In some couples, partners expected but did not extend help and support and reported little collaboration. Communal coping and dyadic management were strongly gendered. Some women reported a one-sided support relationship in which they gave but did not receive support. Women were also more likely to initiate support interactions and offered more varied support than men. In couples with poor relationship quality and weak communal coping, dyadic management of illness was also weak. Partner support was particularly crucial for dietary changes, as women typically prepared meals for the entire family. Other lifestyle changes that could be supported or hindered by a partner included exercise, stress reduction, and medication adherence.
We conclude that gendered power imbalances may influence the extent to which couple-level ideals translate into actual communal coping and health behaviors. Given that spouses and families of patients are also at risk due to shared environments, we call for a shift from an illness management paradigm to a paradigm of optimizing health for spouses and families regardless of diabetes or hypertension diagnosis.
Objectives: To assess the prevalence and correlates of psychological distress in a sample of remote mining and construction workers in Australia.
Design, setting: A cross‐sectional, anonymous ...Wellbeing and Lifestyle Survey at ten mining sites in South Australia and Western Australia, administered at meetings held during 2013–2015.
Participants: 1124 employees at remote construction, and open cut and underground mining sites completed the survey.
Main outcome measures: General psychological distress (Kessler Psychological Distress Scale, K10) and self‐reported overall mental health status; work, lifestyle and family factors correlated with level of psychological distress.
Results: The final sample comprised 1124 workers; 93.5% were men, 63% were aged 25–44 years. 311 respondents (28%) had K10 scores indicating high/very high psychological distress, compared with 10.8% for Australia overall. The most frequently reported stressors were missing special events (86%), relationship problems with partners (68%), financial stress (62%), shift rosters (62%), and social isolation (60%). High psychological distress was significantly more likely in workers aged 25–34 years (v ≥ 55 years: odds ratio OR, 3.2; P = 0.001) and workers on a 2 weeks on/1 week off roster (v 4 weeks on/1 week off: OR, 2.4; P < 0.001). Workers who were very or extremely stressed by their assigned tasks or job (OR, 6.2; P = 0.004), their current relationship (OR, 8.2; P < 0.001), or their financial situation (OR, 6.0; P < 0.001) were significantly more likely to have high/very high K10 scores than those not stressed by these factors. Workers who reported stress related to stigmatisation of mental health problems were at the greatest risk of high/very high psychological distress (v not stressed: OR, 23.5; P < 0.001).
Conclusions: Psychological distress is significantly more prevalent in the remote mining and construction workforce than in the overall Australian population. The factors that contribute to mental ill health in these workers need to be addressed, and the stigma associated with mental health problems reduced.
El objetivo de este trabajo fue evaluar la confiabilidad, la validez factorial, de criterio y predictiva de un instrumento diseñado para medir autoregulación del consumo de bebidas endulzadas y ...carbonatadas. Para ello se utilizó una escala tipo likert de 15 ítems, aplicada en una muestra de 261 personas, entre 18 y 45 años de edad (M= 22.51) de México. Dentro de los resultados, el instrumento incorpora dos factores: 1) regulación afectiva y 2) regulación cognitiva, ambos factores resultaron válidos y confiables. Se encontró que una proporción de la muestra presenta dificultades para regular el factor afectivo de consumir bebidas endulzadas y carbonatadas, también se encontró que el control cognitivo disminuye cuando aumenta el nivel de consumo de refresco. Se plantea la utilidad del instrumento en la evaluación de la autoregulación del consumo de bebidas carbonatadas.
Poverty and socioeconomic disadvantage place demands on intimate relationships and provide fertile ground for disagreements and conflicts. It is not known whether poverty also leads to intimate ...partner violence (IPV). This study investigates the association between income and forms of IPV victimization for both males and females. We also examine whether income inequalities are related to IPV and whether the gender balance of household income contributes to IPV victimization. Data are from a cohort of 2,401 young offspring (60.3% females) who participated at the 30-year follow-up of the Mater-University of Queensland Study of Pregnancy in Brisbane, Australia. Participants completed questionnaires including their income details and the Composite Abuse Scale. Within low-income families, both partners experience higher levels of IPV. Females’ income is not independently related to experiencing IPV either for females or males. Females and males experience a higher rate of IPV when the husband earns a low income. When considering partners’ relative income, families in which both partners earned a low income experienced higher levels of almost all forms of IPV. Income (im)balance in which females earn more or partners both have higher income was less often associated with the experience OF IPV IPV appears to be mutually experienced in the setting of the poverty. Objective economic hardship and scarcity create a context which facilitates IPV for both partners in a relationship.
The present study investigated the association between resilience and indicators of mental health in a large sample of Australian parents at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Data were from a large ...longitudinal cohort study of Australian parents of a child aged 0–18 years collected during the COVID-19 pandemic. The Brief Resilience Scale (BRS) was used to measure resilience, the Depression Anxiety and Stress Scale (DASS) measured distress (i.e., composite of stress, anxiety and depression scales). Other factors assessed included: age, gender, being born overseas, number of children, self-assessed introversion, social, educational and economic variables, family resources, positive affect and emotional regulation, external social support, and partner social support. Hierarchical regression models and a moderation analysis were used to assess the aims.
Of 2110 parents, 1701 (80.6%) were female. The mean age was 38 years old (SD = 7, range = 19–69). High loneliness was a key contributor to distress. The level of social support received did add significantly to distress, with greater assistance associated with lower stress and anxiety (both p < .01). Partner support significantly moderated the relationship between resilience and depression; however, this relationship is of unlikely clinical significance due to its small statistical effect.
Interventions targeting resilience against distress and mental health of parents at the time of pandemics should focus on reducing loneliness while working with the constraints of imposed social isolation and might include partners. Qualitative studies are needed to understand the various useful and not useful aspects of partner's support.
•The first study on resilience in parents at the time of the COVID-19 pandemic.•High loneliness associated with distress.•Greater social support was associated with lower stress and anxiety.
Many studies have found that married people have higher subjective well-being than those who are not married. Yet the increase in cohabitation raises questions as to whether only marriage has ...beneficial effects. In this study, we examine differences in subjective well-being between cohabiting and married men and women in midlife, comparing the United Kingdom, Australia, Germany, and Norway. We apply propensity score-weighted regression analyses to examine selection processes into marriage and differential treatment bias. We find no differences between cohabitation and marriage for men in the United Kingdom and Norway, and women in Germany. However, we do find significant differences for men in Australia and women in Norway. The differences disappear after we control for selection in Australia, but they unexpectedly persist for Norwegian women, disappearing only when we account for relationship satisfaction. For German men and British and Australian women, those with a lower propensity to marry would benefit from marriage. Controls eliminate differences for German men, although not for U.K. women, but relationship satisfaction reduces differences. Overall, our study indicates that especially after selection and relationship satisfaction are taken into account, differences between marriage and cohabitation disappear in all countries. Marriage does not lead to higher subjective well-being; instead, cohabitation is a symptom of economic and emotional strain.
Foster caregivers experience many challenges related to fostering which, for those in a committed couple relationship, may impact the health of that relationship. Recent efforts have been made to ...provide couple relationship education (CRE) to foster caregivers to provide them with the knowledge and skills to develop and maintain a healthy relationship with their partner amidst the challenges of fostering. Further, recent studies have begun to examine changes in other skills that may hinder or promote changes in couple relationship skills following participation in CRE programs. One such parallel process may be changes in mindfulness, which may promote or hinder change in couple relationship skills following a CRE program. Guided by adult learning theory and utilizing a repeated measures actor-partner interdependence model (RM-APIM), the current study aims to examine foster caregiver couples’ change in relationship skills after participating in the CRE program ELEVATE and to examine how changes in mindfulness may moderate change in couple relationship skills. Findings suggest that both men and women report significant improvements in both mindfulness and couple relationship skills following participation in ELEVATE and that change in mindfulness moderates change in couple relationship skills for women.
Extensive research has established that fathers’ engagement in parenting benefits children, but few studies have described how fathers contribute to child development even before birth. In this ...article, we consider both direct and indirect pathways through which expectant fathers shape child development during the prenatal period. Regarding direct pathways, we review work on expectant fathers’ contributions to child development through genetic and epigenetic processes, as well as neuroendocrine mechanisms. Regarding indirect pathways, we outline ways in which expectant fathers indirectly influence child development through the couple relationship. In so doing, we seek to provide a foundation from which to formulate future lines of inquiry on the role of expectant fathers in child development. This research can inform clinical interventions and policies geared toward improving the early caregiving environment and child development.
Postpartum psychosis is a severe mental health illness following childbirth. Studies to date have developed from initial focus on experiences of women to address the role and experiences of partners, ...and recently to touch on the effect on their relationship. This study aimed to build on this work, by focussing directly on the impact of postpartum psychosis on the couple's relationship, from the perspectives of both the woman and her partner.
A constructivist grounded theory approach was utilised to generate a theory that explained the impact of postpartum psychosis on the couple's relationship. In-depth semi-structured interviews were completed with a sample of eight women and six partners.
Four stages and five general categories described the processes that the couple experienced, and the impact postpartum psychosis had on their relationship.
The grounded theory adds to current evidence and helps increase understanding of factors that play a role in adjustment and outcomes. New insights were identified, including postpartum psychosis amplifying existing relational patterns; and the mediating role of the pre-existing relationship and couplehood. Clinical implications and areas for further research are considered.
This article systematically reviewed 34 rigorous evaluation studies of couple relationship education (CRE) programs from 2010 to 2019 that met the criteria for Level 1 well‐established interventions. ...Significant advances include reaching more diverse and disadvantaged target populations with positive intervention effects on a wider range of outcomes beyond relationship quality, including physical and mental health, coparenting, and even child well‐being, and evidence that high‐risk couples often benefit the most. In addition, considerable progress has been made delivering effective online CRE, increasing services to individuals rather than to couples, and giving greater attention to youth and young adults to teach them principles and skills that may help them form healthy relationships. Ongoing challenges include expanding our understanding of program moderators and change mechanisms, attending to emerging everyday issues facing couples (e.g., healthy breaking ups, long‐distance relationships) and gaining increased institutional support for CRE.
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