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Emotional support for men and women with cancer: Do patients receive what their partners provide?

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Abstract

Objectives: In the context of mainly gastrointestinal cancer surgery, the study examines the course of spousal support in 173 dyads over half a year to illuminate the function of gender in support transactions. Method: Provided and received emotional support were assessed in 108 male patient/female partner couples and 65 female patient/ male partner couples. Using the Berlin Social Support Scales, assessments took place during the week before cancer surgery, 1 month, and 6 months after cancer surgery. Results: Gender differences emerged for support received and provided. Support received from partners was initially high for all patients, remained high over time for men, but decreased for women. Provided support decreased for male partners, but remained high in female partners. The effects were of medium size. Patients’ received support was reflected by partners’ reports of support provided. Women who reported received support 6 months after surgery had partners who had reported support provision 5 months earlier. Conclusions: Alternative sources of support, in particular for women, such as their network of friends or professional help, may need to be identified. A couple-coping intervention could be implemented to help partners learn about each other’s needs in times of crisis and ways to cope with adversity.

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. England, and Warsaw School of Social Psychology, University of Sussex, Poland

    Aleksandra Luszczynska

  2. University of Sussex, England

    Sonja Boehmer

  3. Charité Universitätsmedizin Berlin, Germany

    Nina Knoll

  4. German Scholars Organisation, Berkeley, CA, USA

    Ute Schulz

  5. Freie Universität Berlin, Habelschwerdter Allee 45, 14195, Berlin, Germany

    Ralf Schwarzer

Authors
  1. Aleksandra Luszczynska
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  2. Sonja Boehmer
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  3. Nina Knoll
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  4. Ute Schulz
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  5. Ralf Schwarzer
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ralf Schwarzer.

Additional information

The authors are indebted to the following cooperation partners in four Berlin hospitals and tumor treatment centers for their support of the study: Rotraut Asche-Messerschmidt, Bartholomäus Böhm, Konstanze Bössenrodt, Heinz-Johannes Buhr, Christoph-Thomas Germer, Alfred Holzgreve, Tido Junghans, Martina Lang, Joachim Müller, and Peter Neuhaus. The authors are also grateful to Nihal E. Mohamed, Charis Förster, and Steffen Taubert of the Coping with Surgery Research Team at the Freie Universität Berlin. Aleksandra Luszczynska was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow. Sonja Boehmer and Ute Schulz have been awarded a Feodor Lynen Research Fellowship.

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Luszczynska, A., Boehmer, S., Knoll, N. et al. Emotional support for men and women with cancer: Do patients receive what their partners provide?. Int. J. Behav. Med. 14, 156–163 (2007). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF03000187

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