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Originalia

Adaptation to Illness in Couples Dealing With a Cardiovascular Disease

The Dyadic Effects of Personality

Published Online:October 23, 2014https://doi.org/10.1026/0943-8149/a000128

Abstract

The aim of this study was to examine the dyadic effects of three patient and spouse personality traits (i. e., neuroticism, extraversion, and conscientiousness) on couples’ adaptation to illness. Two important illness cognitions were used as indicators of adaptation to illness–namely, illness-related acceptance and helplessness. Seventy-five patients with a chronic cardiovascular disease and their spouses participated in the study. The dyadic effects of personality traits, as well as the interaction effects between patient and spouse traits were examined with the actor–partner interdependence model (APIM). Several actor effects (i. e., the effects of a person’s own characteristics on their own outcomes) were noted. Also, certain partner effects (i. e., the effects of the characteristics of the one member of the couple on the other member’s outcomes) were found. After controlling for actor effects, patients’ helplessness was related to their spouses’ extraversion, spouses’ illness acceptance was related to patients’ conscientiousness, and spouses’ helplessness was related to patients’ neuroticism. In addition, patients’ conscientiousness was found to moderate the effects of spouses’ conscientiousness on their own acceptance. These findings seem to challenge the traditional perspective according to which personality refers to intrapersonal processes, and call for a theoretical refocus on the interpersonal/social role of personality traits as far as adaptation to illness is concerned.

Die vorliegende Studie untersucht dyadische Effekte der Persönlichkeit von Patient(inn)en und ihren Partner(inne)n (Neurotizismus, Extraversion und Gewissenhaftigkeit) auf die Krankheitsanpassung des Paares. Um die Krankheitsanpassung zu erfassen, wurden zwei zentrale Krankheitskognitionen, krankheitsbezogene Akzeptanz und Hilflosigkeit, gemessen. Insgesamt nahmen 75 Patient(inn)en mit einer chronischen Herz-Kreislauf-Erkrankung und ihre Partner(innen) an der Studie teil. Im Rahmen des Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) wurden sowohl dyadische Effekte von Persönlichkeit als auch Interaktionseffekte der Persönlichkeit von Patient(inn)en und Partner(inne)n untersucht. Die Ergebnisse zeigen sowohl Akteureffekte (d. h. Einflüsse der Persönlichkeit einer Person auf die eigene Krankheitsanpassung) als auch Partnereffekte (d. h. Einflüsse der Persönlichkeit auf die Krankheitsanpassung des Partners/der Partnerin): Nach Kontrolle der Akteureffekte war die Hilflosigkeit der Patient(inn)en mit der Extraversion der Partner(innen) assoziiert, die krankheitsbezogene Akzeptanz durch die Partner(innen) war assoziiert mit der Gewissenhaftigkeit der Patient(inn)en und die Hilflosigkeit der Partner(innen) hing mit Neurotizismus der Patient(inn)en zusammen. Darüber hinaus konnte gezeigt werden, dass die Gewissenhaftigkeit der Patient(inn)en den Zusammenhang zwischen Gewissenhaftigkeit und krankheitsbezogene Akzeptanz der Partner(innen) moderiert. Diese Ergebnisse stellen die traditionelle Perspektive in Frage, nach der sich Persönlichkeit auf intrapersonelle Prozesse bezieht. In Bezug auf Krankheitsanpassung weisen diese Ergebnisse daher auf die Notwendigkeit einer theoretischen Neuorientierung auf die inter-personale/soziale Rolle von Persönlichkeit hin.

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