ArticleFrontiers in psychology2022
Active Engagement, Protective Buffering, and Depressive Symptoms in Young-Midlife Couples Surviving Cancer: The Roles of Age and Sex.
Article in Frontiers in psychology, 2022. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 10 papers.
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Who cites it
10 citing papers in PubMed, 13 citations in OpenAlex.
- Perceived communication barriers with spouses among young adult patients with cancer and their association with psychological distress.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2026Article
- Dyadic Coping and Illness Uncertainty in Cancer Patient-Caregiver Dyads: Interactive Mechanisms, Heterogeneity, and Integrated Intervention Directions-A Narrative Review (2021-2025).Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2026Review
- Communication and Support-Focused Experiences and Needs of Young Adult Couples Coping With Cancer: A Qualitative Study.Psycho-oncology · 2025Article
- Gender differences between dyadic coping and emotional distress in young and middle-aged cancer patients and spouses.Supportive care in cancer : official journal of the Multinational Association of Supportive Care in Cancer · 2025Article
- Social support, social constraint, and psychological adjustment in patients with colorectal cancer.Journal of behavioral medicine · 2025Article
- Analysis of Self-Disclosure and Empathic Interaction Willingness Among Couples with Malignant Gynaecological Tumours.Journal of multidisciplinary healthcare · 2025Article
- Dyadic Coping of NMOSD and MOGAD patients and their partners: a sociological and psychological examination of strategies (CoMMOnsense-Study).BMJ neurology open · 2025Article
- Coping with family function changes: A qualitative study of couples facing advanced lung cancer.Asia-Pacific journal of oncology nursing · 2024Article
- Couple-Based Communication Interventions for Cancer Patient-Spousal Caregiver Dyads' Psychosocial Adaptation to Cancer: A Systematic Review.Healthcare (Basel, Switzerland) · 2023Review
- A shared love: reciprocity and hopefulness in romantic relationships of young adults with chronic pain.Frontiers in pain research (Lausanne, Switzerland) · 2023Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 3 institutions in 1 country.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveCancer researchers have found midlife couples to have poorer outcomes compared to older couples due to the off-time nature of the illness for them. It is unknown if young couples (aged 18-39), who are under-represented in cancer studies and overlooked for supportive programs, are at further risk. This study explored the moderating roles of survivor age and sex on the associations between active engagement and protective buffering and depressive symptoms in couples surviving cancer.
methodsThe exploratory study comprised 49 couples (aged 27-58) 1-3 years post-diagnosis. Multilevel modeling was used to explore the moderating roles of survivor age and sex, controlling for interdependent data.
resultsApproximately, 37% of survivors and 27% of partners met clinical criteria for further assessment of depression, with 50% of couples having at least one member meeting the criteria. Survivors and their partners did not significantly differ on depressive symptoms, active engagement, or protective buffering. Male survivors reported significantly higher levels of active engagement by their partners than female survivors and female survivors reported significantly higher levels of protective buffering by their partners than male survivors. We found some evidence to suggest that survivor age and sex may play moderating roles between active engagement and protective buffering and depressive symptoms. Older partners and female survivors appeared to experience more positive effects from engaging in positive dyadic behaviors than younger partners and male survivors.
conclusionFindings not only confirm the important role of dyadic behaviors for couples surviving cancer together, but also the important roles of survivor age and sex may play in whether such behaviors are associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. Future research that examines these complex associations over time and across the adult life span in diverse populations is needed.
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