The impact of positive spousal support on trauma symptoms and sleep disturbance among prostate cancer survivors.

Abstract

9533 Background: Receiving a diagnosis of cancer can lead to psychological effects including symptoms of traumatic stress. Trauma symptoms can dysregulate sleep and sleep disturbance has been linked with negative health outcomes. Cancer-related trauma symptoms and sleep disturbance can affect the spouse of the cancer patient and the couple’s relationship; conversely, a supportive relationship can improve cancer survivors’ mental health. The impact of spousal support on trauma and sleep disturbance among prostate cancer survivors has not yet been examined. Methods: 315 prostate cancer survivors (mean age 66, 89% Caucasian), of whom 265 were married and 50 were unmarried (single, widowed, separated or divorced) completed the Impact of Events Scale (IES), Stanford Sleep Questionnaire, and a measure of positive spousal support. Data are self-report. Rates of trauma symptoms and sleep disturbance by marital status were compared using t-tests, and the contribution of marital status and spousal support to variance in these outcomes was evaluated using linear regression. Results: 13.4% of survivors reported significant (i.e., >27 point IES cutoff) symptoms of traumatic stress and 23.2% reported moderate or higher rates of sleep disturbance. Trauma symptoms (t= -2.16, p<.01) and sleep disturbance (t= -3.14, p<.01) were significantly lower in married than unmarried survivors. Spousal support was negatively associated with trauma symptoms (r= -.18, p<.01) and sleep disturbance (r= -.20, p<.05), and inclusion of spousal support as a covariate rendered the linear relationship between marital status and both trauma symptoms and sleep disturbance non-significant (p>.05). Conclusions: Spousal support is associated with reductions in trauma and sleep disturbance, over and above dichotomous marital status. This area needs further study, given high rates of trauma symptoms and difficulty disclosing health-related concerns among men with prostate cancer. Future research needs to explore mechanisms by which spousal support leads to improvement in trauma symptoms and sleep outcomes. Interventions bolstering spousal support could improve mental health in prostate cancer survivors.