Mindfulness in Patients with Cancer is Predictive of Their Partners’ Lowered Cancer-Related Distress: An Actor-Partner Interdependence Model of Spirituality and Mindfulness in Dyads Facing Cancer

Abstract

The present study draws attention to the significance of considering mindfulness and spiritual well-being on cancer-related distress through the bidirectional framework among couples with cancer. We analyzed dyadic data collected from 80 couples (N = 160) with cancer using the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) to examine the within-person (actor effects) and between-partner (partner effects) associations among links between mindfulness, spiritual well-being, and dyadic cancer-related distress. APIM allowed us to identify differences in the dyadic associations of spirituality and mindfulness in patients with cancer and their partners, such that spirituality only displayed an actor effect for the patient whereas patients’ own mindfulness showed both actor and partner effects in relation to cancer-related distress. In other words, spirituality seemed to only play an important role in patients’ own cancer-related distress, with higher levels of spiritual well-being predicting lower levels of distress in patients. On the other hand, patients’ own mindfulness was not only significantly related to their own cancer-related distress, but also significantly associated with their partners’. Findings underscore the need to adopt dyadic approaches while analyzing distress in couples, especially in couples who are dealing with cancer and are uniquely codependent in that partners also act as caregivers for patients with cancer.