Caring for a Family Member With Cancer: Past Communal Behavior and Affective Reactions1

Abstract

An important recent development in the caregiving literature is an increased focus on the role played by the interpersonal relationship between caregiver and care recipient. In this study, a prediction derived from communal relationship theory (Clark & Mills, 1979, 1993; Mills & Clark, 1982) was tested in a sample of patients with recurrent cancer and their family caregivers. Specifically, it was hypothesized that if a relationship had been communal in the past (i.e., characterized by mutual demonstrations of concern for and responsiveness to one another's needs), positive feelings about helping one's partner should continue even when one partner's needs far outweigh those of the other. Consistent with this hypothesis, results indicated that caregivers whose relationship with the patient before illness onset had been characterized by relatively infrequent communal behaviors evidenced more symptoms of depression that did those whose relationship had been characterized by more frequent communal behaviors. In addition, the effects of prior communal behavior on depressed affect were both mediated and moderated by feelings of burden. Caregivers who recalled relatively few communal behaviors in their past relationship felt more burdened by their caregiving role, and burden in turn predicted greater depressive symptomatology. Implications for early identification of caregivers at risk for becoming distressed are discussed.