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At least 19 recordsLinked to original sources
PubMed1999

Helicobacter pylori: evidence for spouse-to-spouse transmission.

BACKGROUND: Spouse-to-spouse transmission of Helicobacter pylori infection still remains controversial. METHODS: We studied the prevalence of H. pylori infection among spouses of H. pylori-positive or -negative individuals and looked for intraspousal transmission. Twenty-five couples were studied. Initially, one individual per couple was selected as the index subject. Spouses of these H. pylori-positive or -negative index individuals underwent screening for H. pylori by serology, the rapid urease test and histology. Those couples in whom only one spouse was positive were followed up and H. pylori status was re-evaluated using the above tests after approximately 1 year in the H. pylori-negative spouse. RESULTS: Of 25 randomly selected index subjects, 18 were H. pylori positive and seven were negative. There was no significant difference in age, sex, socioeconomic status, presence of dyspeptic symptoms, duration of marriage and number of children in these index subjects. Spouses of H. pylori-infected index subjects had a significantly higher prevalence of H. pylori infection than the spouses of H. pylori-negative index subjects (83.3 vs 28.5%; P < 0.01). Age, sex, socioeconomic status, dyspeptic symptoms, duration of marriage and number of children were not different in H. pylori-positive or -negative spouses of H. pylori-positive index subjects. There were five such couples in whom only one spouse was H. pylori positive initially. At follow up, three of these H. pylori-negative spouses became positive. These findings suggest person-to-person transmission or common source exposure within couples.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Pain affects spouses too: personal experience with pain and catastrophizing as correlates of spouse distress.

Chronic pain has adverse effects on individuals with chronic pain (ICPs) as well as their family members. Borrowing from an empathy model described by Goubert et al. (2005), we examined top-down and bottom-up factors that may be related to psychological well-being in the spouses of ICPs. A diverse community sample of 113 middle-aged spouses of individuals with chronic pain (ICPs) completed measures on pain severity and spouse pain catastrophizing (PCS-S; Cano et al., 2005). Results showed that almost half (48.7%) of spouses reported chronic pain themselves and that pain in the spouse accounted for within-couple differences on psychological distress. That is, in couples where only the ICP reported pain, ICP psychological distress was greater than their spouses. However, when both partners reported chronic pain, there was no significant difference in psychological distress between partners. Hierarchical regression analyses showed that spouse magnification catastrophizing was associated with depressive and anxiety symptoms, and that helplessness catastrophizing was associated with depressive symptoms for spouses of ICPs who also reported chronic pain but not for spouses of ICPs without chronic pain. The results are discussed in light of interpersonal processes that may affect spouses' distress.

Anxiety↗
PubMed2005

The development and psychometric evaluation of an instrument to assess spouse responses to pain and well behavior in patients with chronic pain: the Spouse Response Inventory.

UNLABELLED: Operant behavioral models of chronic pain posit that the pain behaviors and disability of patients with chronic pain can be influenced by social contingencies, such as significant others' responses to pain and well behaviors. The aim of the present study was to develop and evaluate a comprehensive measure of spouse responses to patient pain and well behaviors, the Spouse Response Inventory (SRI). One hundred four patients with chronic pain and their spouses completed a battery of questionnaires, including the SRI. The final analysis yielded a 39-item inventory divided into 4 scales that assess spouse solicitous and negative responses to patient pain behaviors and spouse encouraging and negative responses to patient well behaviors. Analyses yielded results that were consistent with previous research demonstrating an association between spouse solicitous and negative responses to patient pain behaviors and measures of patient functioning, providing preliminary support for the validity of the SRI scales. The results are discussed in terms of implications for further research and the clinical applicability of the SRI. PERSPECTIVE: This article presents the psychometric properties of a new measure of spouse responses to patient chronic pain and well behavior. This measure could potentially be helpful to clinicians seeking to assess the extent to which spouse responses may contribute to patient pain and disability and also to researchers who wish to test hypotheses derived from operant theory as applied to chronic pain.

Adult↗
PubMed1998

The information concerns of spouses of women with breast cancer: patients' and spouses' perspectives.

A user-centred study employing focus group methodology was conducted in the United Kingdom in order to establish the key information concerns of spouses of women with breast cancer from both patients' and spouses' perspectives. Four unstructured focus group discussions were convened, three with women with breast cancer (n=11, n=7 and n=12) and one with spouses (n=9). The discussions were audio-taped and transcribed in full. All transcripts were analysed manually using theme analysis and considered patterns common to the data. Themes were established and corresponding quotations used to support all themes. Emergent themes were grouped into the following categories: information needs of spouses; sources of information for spouses; and family information. Several important points emerged within each of these categories and these are discussed. Validity was established by participant evaluation of the findings. Findings clearly indicate the key information concerns of spouses from patients' and spouses' perspectives. These findings are of value to health care professionals and have a number of nursing implications. The study also highlights particular areas where further research and development are needed.

Adult↗
PubMed2003

[The influence exercised by the spouse or partner on diabetics--assessing the participation of spouses or lifelong associates in intensive inpatient training--an epidemiological study].

BACKGROUND: The purpose of this study was to analyse whether participation of spouses of patients with type-2 diabetes in a patient empowerment programme would result in improved metabolic control of diabetes. Values of glycated haemoglobin levels were used for the between-group comparisons. METHODS: This investigation was conducted as a cohort study in which 59 patients with type-2 diabetes participated. Follow-up data were checked after 12 months. We investigated the relative glycated haemoglobin levels, blood pressure, hypoglycaemia, hospitalisation, and weight at baseline and follow-up. The statistical analyses were performed using the software packages SPSS 10 and Epi Info 6. RESULTS: The studied group had an average duration of diabetes of 10.7 years (range 1.3-40.8 years) and an age of 64 years (range 40-79 years). The group accompanied by their spouses did show a significant reduction of the average glycated haemoglobin level from 1.51 to 1.28 (p = 0.0001). By contrast, the reduction of 0.03 in the group without spouses was not significant (p = 0.558). Looking at the relative risk, it turned out that patients without spouses have a 2.3 times higher risk of developing a worse metabolic control after one year than patients with spouses. The logistical regression supported this trend. CONCLUSIONS: This study indicates that the participation of spouses of patients with type-2 diabetes in a patient empowerment programme contributes to an improvement in blood glucose control.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Is lower cognitive function in one spouse associated with depressive symptoms in the other spouse?

This study examines whether lower cognitive function in one spouse is associated with depressive symptoms in the other spouse. The subjects were 528 community-dwelling spouse pairs aged 65+ who participated in the Chicago Health and Aging Project (CHAP), an ongoing longitudinal, bi-racial, population-based study of risk factors for incident Alzheimer's disease and other age-related chronic conditions. CHAP participants were assessed at 3-year intervals over a period of nearly ten years. The results show a cross-sectional association of wives' lower cognitive function at baseline with depressive symptoms in husbands; however, husbands' cognitive function was not associated with wives' depressive symptoms. There was no longitudinal association of cognitive function at baseline with increased depressive symptoms over time. Furthermore, change in cognitive function over time had no effect on depressive symptoms in either spouse. The relationship between cognitive function and depressive symptoms in spouse pairs is complex. Our findings suggest that husbands may be particularly psychologically vulnerable to the negative effects of their wives' cognitive impairment. This vulnerability may have a range of long-term health and caregiving implications.

Activities of Daily Living↗
PubMed1994

Perception of spouse in relation to perception of self by semantic differentials in depressed patients and their spouses.

Several studies have shown correlations between personality types and affective disorders. To investigate the influence on personality assessment of the reporting individual's own schemata according to the cognitive theory of depression, we used an instrument of 29 items of semantic differentials. We obtained responses from 45 patients (18 men, 27 women) upon their recovery and from their spouses. Each of these 90 individuals indicated self-perception on one copy and his or her perception of spouse on another. Factor analysis yielded four factors. Self-perception and perception by spouse were significantly positively correlated for all these factors for the patients and their spouses, indicating lack of schemata influence. Anxiety scores were higher for patients and for women. There was negative correlation for extroversion within couples. Male (but not female) patients showed a negative correlation with their spouses for anxiety.

Adult↗
PubMed2006

Evidence on spouse responses to illness as a guide to understanding and studying spouse responses to living organ donation.

Although living kidney donors receive praise from friends and coworkers for their selflessness, recent studies report that members of the immediate family may not be as supportive. Reports of conflict surrounding living organ donation include divorce between the donor and the donor's spouse. The purpose of this review of the literature is to (1) discuss the spousal role when confronted with a partner's illness, (2) explore the current research describing the spouses of patients with heart disease and cancer, various transplant recipients, and living organ donors, and (3) identify the need for future research to explore the experiences and needs of the spouses of living kidney donors. Because the attitudes of donor family members, especially spouses, may affect the decision to donate and the satisfaction with recovery from donation surgery, it is critical to know how the spouses of living kidney donors view kidney donation. This knowledge may be instrumental in promoting family harmony and donor recovery and wellness.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1998

Spouse-rated limitations and spouse-rated life expectancy as mortality predictors.

Survival analyses are used to examine the predictive value of spouse-rated limitations due to health problems and spouse-rated life expectancy for 3-year mortality in a communication sample of elderly Australian married couples, net of health status indicators, health behaviors, and sociodemographic factors. Tests for gender differences in the effects and for empirical overlap with self-ratings of health expectancy were also done. Findings show that both spouse-ratings are predictive of husbands' mortality, while for wives' mortality the parallel measures are not predictive in the adjusted model. Wives' rating are not substitutes for other health indicators or for self-ratings of health and life expectancy. The independent effect suggests that wives are more astute reporters or judges of their husbands' mortality risk for that wives' perceptions indicate tangible influences on husbands' health and mortality risk. Future analyses should be directed toward finding mechanisms linking spouse perceptions to health outcomes.

Aged↗
PubMed2006

Can spouses provide knowledge of each other's communication patterns? A study of self-reports, spouses' reports, and observational coding.

The purposes of this study were (1) to assess individuals' self-reports of communication and their reports about their spouses' communication in order to examine the congruence of spousal views and (2) to investigate whether each report provided unique information about observed marital interactions. These associations were evaluated in a sample of 119 longtime married couples. The Verbal Aggression and Cooperation subscales from the Conflicts and Problem-Solving Scales were used as measures of negative and positive aspects of communication. The findings indicated that self-reports of both verbal aggression and cooperation were strongly associated with the same individual's report of his or her spouse's verbal aggression and cooperation. Conversely, self-reports were only moderately associated with reports made by spouses (e.g., the husband's report of his wife's communication). Hence, within-reporter agreement was higher than between-reporter agreement about marital communication. When entered into regression models, reports made by spouses, but not self-reports, explained unique variance in observations of marital hostility and affection. There was one exception: Wife self-report of verbal aggression explained unique variance in coders' ratings of wife hostility, controlling for husband report of wife verbal aggression. Findings indicate the importance of assessing partners' views of one another's communication for the most accurate portrayal of marital interactions. Implications for research and clinical work are discussed.

Adult↗
PubMed1996

Models of spouse similarity: applications to fluid ability measured in twins and their spouses.

Genetic influences have consistently been reported to be the principal explanation for resemblance among relatives for intelligence, with shared environmental effects playing a much smaller role. However, crucial to understanding the nature of environmental influences are the mechanisms of assortative mating. Phenotypic assortment, albeit widely assumed or modeled in biometrical analyses, may be less important than other assortment processes, such as social homogamy. Consequently, effects of shared environment may play a greater role than prior studies have suggested. The goal of this study was to resolve environmental and genetic influences on fluid ability based on alternative models of assortment by examining the similarity of monozygotic (MZ) and dizygotic (DZ) twins and their spouses. Raven's Progressive Matrices scores were available from a population-based Swedish sample of 138 twin kinships. The effects of both social homogamy and phenotypic assortment were tested simultaneously in each of two alternate assortment models. A factor/delta path model represented social homogamy as a common factor and phenotypic assortment as a delta path, while a delta/delta path model represented both social homogamy and phenotypic assortment as delta paths. Overall, the factor/delta path model was found to be superior. Results suggested that social homogamy completely explained spouse similarity; phenotypic assortment was not significant. The results of these analyses suggest the presence of shared environmental effects among twins and their spouses, which would have been underestimated if only phenotypic modeled phenotypic assortment may have underestimated the effects of environment.

Adult↗
PubMed2005

Spouse selection and environmental effects on spouse correlation in lung function measures.

PURPOSE: Concordance between spouses may be due to partner selection factors and/or the effects of marriage/environment. The extent to which partner selection factors contribute to spouse concordance has important implications for heritability studies. The aim of this study was to examine the magnitude of spouse correlation in lung function measures and its relationship to duration of marriage. METHODS: Cross-sectional and longitudinal data collected over the period 1969 to 1995 for 2615 couples from the Busselton Health Study have been analyzed using the program FISHER. RESULTS: Unadjusted correlations were around 0.45 for forced expiratory volume in 1 second (FEV1) and 0.25 for FEV1/FVC (forced vital capacity) and were reduced to 0.05 and 0.10, respectively, after adjustment for age, height, and smoking. No trend with marriage duration was apparent in both cross-sectional and longitudinal analyses but there was a significant downward trend in the correlations with age at marriage. CONCLUSIONS: The findings indicate that observed correlations in lung function measures are mostly due to partner selection factors and that partner selection factors have greater influence for couples that marry at younger ages. Family studies that aim to identify and separate genetic from other influences on lung function measures should not regard the mother-father correlation as due to common environment effects.

Adult↗
PubMed2002

Effects of a videotape information intervention for spouses on spouse distress and patient recovery from surgery.

Shortly before hospital release, the spouses of 226 male and 70 female coronary artery bypass graft patients were randomly assigned to view an optimistically slanted information tape, a tape that featured coping with more ups and downs, or no tape at all. Results indicated that women, whether as patients or as caregivers, were at elevated risk for a variety of negative outcomes during the subsequent 6 months. However, female patients who had spouses in the optimistic, mastery-tape condition were protected from the elevated levels of problems that characterized women whose spouses received only standard discharge preparation. Results are discussed in relation to research on optimism effects and work that suggests men may generally be less effective caregivers than women.

Adaptation, Psychological↗
PubMed1995

Twelve month adherence of adults who joined a fitness program with a spouse vs without a spouse.

OBJECTIVE: The purpose was to determine adherence of apparently healthy adults who joined an exercise program with a spouse (Married Pairs) vs. without a spouse (Married Singles). It was hypothesized that Married Pairs would have significantly higher adherence than Married Singles; and that self motivation would be associated with adherence. EXPERIMENTAL DESIGN: Twelve month adherence of Married Pairs and Married Singles were compared to self motivation in a retrospective design. SETTING: Subjects in this study did not volunteer for a scientific investigation, instead they were spontaneous participants in a university fitness program. PARTICIPANTS: Married Pairs were 16 couples and Married Singles were 16 married men and 14 married women. INTERVENTIONS: This study observed the 12 month spontaneous participation in a fitness program. The only intervention was the self motivation questionnaire. MEASURES: Adherence was defined as monthly attendance, compliance to the exercise prescription, dropout, and reason(s) for dropout. Self motivation was also measured. RESULTS: For Married Pairs, monthly attendance was significantly higher (54.2% +/- 10.3 vs 40.3% +/- 14.3) and dropout (6.3% vs 43.0%) was significantly lower than for Married Singles. Compliance to the exercise prescription was good for all of the groups except for the Married Single Men. Fifty percent of the dropouts left because of family responsibilities/lack of spousal support; 25% dropped-out to continue exercising on their own. Self motivation did not differ between Married Pairs and Married Singles. Monthly attendance of spouses in the Married Pairs demonstrated a significant correlation. CONCLUSIONS: Married Pairs had significantly higher attendance and lower dropout than Married Singles which appeared to be primarily influenced by spousal support rather than by self motivation.

Adult↗
PubMedDate not supplied

Loneliness and the spouse of the geriatric patient. Seven guidelines may keep a spouse's loneliness from becoming overwhelming.

Loneliness is a painful human experience to which spouses of the geriatric patient are particularly vulnerable. The nurse is frequently in a position to assess not only the patient but the spouse. When factors that may lead to loneliness are present, the nurse can intervene to prevent loneliness. When symptoms of loneliness are present in the spouse or patient, the nurse may act to alleviate disabling feelings of isolation.

Aged↗
PubMed2001

Spouses' socioeconomic characteristics and fertility differences in sub-Saharan Africa: does spouse's education matter?

Although the general objective of this study is to examine the extent to which spouses' socioeconomic characteristics determine whether modern contraception is used and whether family limitation (the demand for no more children) is desired, its central goal is to evaluate the degree to which the net effect of a woman's education on those fertility decisions is altered once a control is made for the level of schooling of the husband. Individual characteristics of spouses included as controls in this analysis are on the one hand women's attributes relating to employment, age, parity, ethnic identity, and urban residence and, on the other hand, the occupation of the husband. Data used in this research are provided by DHS surveys conducted in fourteen sub-Saharan countries: Mali. Burkina Faso, Niger, Nigeria, Cameroon, Benin, Senegal. Ghana, Central African Republic, Kenya, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Namibia and Rwanda. With two dichotomous outcome variables, logistic regression was used to estimate two nested models for each dependent variable and for each country covered by the study. DHS respondents used as units of analysis in this study are women who were married (any kind of union) and non-pregnant at the time when each national survey was conducted. The findings suggest that, while an educated wife needs the support of an educated husband to state a preference for family limitation in contemporary sub-Saharan Africa, controlling for husband's education and other relevant covariates does little to undermine the evidence that woman's advanced education and the adoption of modern family planning are positively related in the developing world.

Africa South of the Sahara↗
PubMed2002

Evaluation of spouse abuse treatment: description and evaluation of the Air Force Family Advocacy Programs for spouse physical abuse.

Data are reported from a sample of 2,991 spouse physical abusers who received Air Force Family Advocacy Program (FAP) services and who volunteered to complete program evaluation measures that were administered before and after treatment and at a 6-month follow-up. As expected, after treatment compared with before treatment, professionals rated offenders as less at risk, and the offenders indicated general satisfaction with the Family Advocacy Program services. Additionally, as predicted, objective measures indicated that offenders showed significant (p < 0.001) decreases in family conflict and child abuse risk and significant increases (p < 0.001) in family cohesion, family expression, and marital satisfaction. An analysis of the available follow-up data indicated that each of the post-treatment improvements were maintained at the time of the follow-up evaluation.

Adult↗