Relationship between psychological distress, intimate relationship and self-disclosure in spouses of breast cancer patients

Abstract

Objective To understand the situation of psychological distress, self-disclosure and intimate relationship in spouses of patients with breast cancer and analysis their interrelationship. Methods Totally 240 spouses of breast cancer patients from 3 class Ⅲ grade A hospitals in Jiangsu Province were investigated with distress thermometer (DT) , distress disclosure index (DDI) , short marital adjustment and prediction test as well as general information questionnaire from July 2015 to July 2016. Single factor analysis was performed using rank test, and correlations analysis was performed by Spearman analysis. Results The average score of psychological distress was (5.2±4.7) points, self-disclosure (36.5±32.7) points, intimate relationship (118.2±36.5) points and marital disorder detection rate was 25.9%. The prevalence of psychological distress was 67.4% and there was a significant difference in DT score among the spouses of patients with different education level (Z= 7.519, P< 0.05) . Spouse psychological distress was negatively correlated with self-disclosure degree and the degree of intimacy (r=-0.673, -0.721; P<0.01) . Intimate relationship took a partial effects as mediator between the psychological distress and the degree of self-disclosure. Conclusions The incidence of psychological distress is high in spouses of patients with breast cancer, and the severity is influenced by self-disclosure and intimate relationship. Intimacy takes a partial effects as mediator between the psychological distress and the degree of self-disclosure. Key words: Breast neoplasms; Spouse; Psychological distress; Self-disclosure; Intimate relationship