Dyadic Adjustment, Family Coping, Body Image, Quality of Life and Psychological Morbidity in Patients with Psoriasis and Their Partners

Abstract

Psoriasis is an incurable and chronic disease that includes unpredictable periods of remission and relapse requiring long-term therapy. This paper focuses on the relationship among family coping, psychological morbidity, body image, dyadic adjustment and quality of life in psoriatic patients and their partners. One hundred and one patients with psoriasis and 78 partners comprised the sample. They were regular users of the Dermatology Service of a Central Northern hospital in Portugal and a private dermatology clinic. Patients with psoriasis were assessed on anxiety, depression, body image, quality of life, dyadic adjustment and family coping. Partners were assessed on the same measures except body image and quality of life. A positive relationship among dyadic adjustment, psychological morbidity and family coping in patients and their partners was found. Also, patients with lower levels of quality of life had partners with higher levels of depressive and anxious symptoms. Better dyadic adjustment predicted family coping in the psoriatic patient. High levels of dyadic adjustment in patients and low partners' trait anxiety predicted better dyadic adjustment in partners. The results highlight the importance of incorporating family variables in psychological interventions in psoriasis' care, particularly family coping and dyadic adjustment as well as the need for psychological intervention to focus both on patients and partners.