RESEARCH - RA patients' perceptions of mutuality in conversations with spouses/partners and their links with psychological and physical health

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Arthritis Rheum. 2008 Jun 24;59(7):921-928.

Rheumatoid arthritis patients' perceptions of mutuality in

conversations with spouses/partners and their links with psychological

and physical health.

Kasle S, Wilhelm MS, Zautra AJ.

University of Arizona, Tucson.

OBJECTIVE: Mutuality, measured as subjects' perceptions of

responsiveness in conversations with their spouse/partners, is linked

with women's psychological health. Our objectives were to examine

physical and psychological health outcomes of married/partnered

patients with rheumatoid arthritis (RA) in relation to their

perceptions of their own responsiveness (self-mutuality), their

partner's responsiveness (partner-mutuality), and combined

responsiveness (overall mutuality), and to examine potential sex

differences in the links between mutuality and depressive symptoms.

METHODS: Symptoms of depression and anxiety, physical disability, and

arthritis impact reported by RA patients were examined in correlation

matrices with their perceptions of overall mutuality,

partner-mutuality, and self-mutuality in conversations with

spouses/partners in the whole sample (n = 148) and separately for men

(n = 34) and women (n = 114). Sex moderation of the links between

mutuality and depression was tested in hierarchical regressions.

RESULTS: In the whole sample and among women, all mutuality measures

had significant inverse correlations with all health outcomes. In men,

physical disability was unrelated to mutuality measures, but otherwise

correlations approximated those in the whole sample and for women. Sex

(being female) interacted with self-mutuality, but not overall or

partner-mutuality, in predicting fewer depressive symptoms.

CONCLUSION: RA patients' perceptions of mutuality in conversations

with spouses/partners predicted better health across a spectrum of

outcomes. Overall mutuality and partner-mutuality predicted fewer

depressive symptoms for both men and women, but self-mutuality

appeared more important for women than for men. The clinical relevance

of findings and their implications for behavioral interventions with

RA patients are discussed.

PMID: 18576302

http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18576302

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Not an MD