Correlates of sexual quality of life among husbands of Chinese breast cancer survivors

Abstract

Western studies found that sexual quality of life (QoL) among husbands of breast cancer survivors was associated with their stress and coping processes. However, little is known about how breast cancer caregiving might be associated with those husbands' sexual QoL in the Chinese cultural context. Guided by the Stress and Coping model, we examined the psychosocial correlates of sexual QoL among husbands of Chinese breast cancer survivors. Husbands of Chinese breast cancer survivors (N = 176) recruited from two hospitals in Weifang, China completed a cross-sectional survey. Their individual characteristics, caregiving-related stressors, cognitive appraisals, coping resources and strategies, and sexual QoL were measured. After controlling for covariates, hierarchical regression results showed that lower caregiving burden (β = -0.34, p < .001), higher marital satisfaction (β = 0.20, p < .001), and lower harm/threat appraisals (β from -0.22 to -0.20, p < .001) were associated with better sexual QoL. Moreover, ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE; inner conflict concerning the desire to express emotions yet failing to do so) was found to moderate between protective buffering and sexual QoL (β = 0.20, p < .01), such that the negative association between protective buffering and sexual QoL was only significant among those with higher AEE (β = -0.38, p < .003). Both the stress and coping variables and their interactions with individual characteristics could be important determinants of those husbands' sexual QoL. Our findings implied that reducing husbands' caregiving burden, increasing their marital satisfaction, helping them reevaluate the negative impact of breast cancer, and reducing barriers for expressing emotions and concerns may increase their sexual well-being.