Relationship between illness perception and family resilience in gynecologic cancer patients: the mediating role of couple illness communication.

OBJECTIVE: To analyze the current family resilience levels of Chinese patients with gynecologic cancer and explore the mediating role of couple illness communication between illness perception and family resilience to facilitate patient adaptation to cancer. METHODS: A total of 310 patients with gynecologic cancer were selected from the gynecology ward of a tertiary care hospital in Jinan, Shandong Province, China. All participants provided their demographic and clinical information and completed the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire (BIPQ), Couples' Illness Communication Scale (CICS), and Family Hardiness Index (FHI). The mediating effect of couple illness communication was analyzed using SPSS26.0 and Amos21.0. RESULTS: The family resilience score of patients with gynecologic cancer was moderate (55.78 ± 8.65). Illness perception was negatively correlated with couple illness communication(p < 0.05) and family resilience(p < 0.01), while couple illness communication was positively correlated with family resilience (p < 0.01). Couple illness communication mediated the relationship between illness perception and family resilience [ß = - 0.071; 95% confidence interval: (- 0.127)-(- 0.013)]. CONCLUSIONS: The family resilience of patients with gynecologic cancer must be further improved. Since couple illness communication mediates the relationship between illness perception and family resilience in this population, it is important to improve patients' illness perceptions and couple illness communication to enhance their family resilience.

Couple communication quality and family resilience among Chinese gynecologic cancer patients and their spouses: a dyadic study.

PURPOSE: The purpose of this study was to explore the couple communication process for gynecologic cancer (GC) patients and their spouses. Particular attention was given to examining the relationship between couple communication quality and family resilience for GC dyads. METHODS: In this cross-sectional study, 354 dyads were recruited from a gynecology ward of a public hospital in China. The patients and their spouses completed the Couples' Communication Quality Scale and the Family Hardiness Index. This study used the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) to examine the effect of couple communication quality on family resilience in distinguishable GC dyads. RESULTS: Both GC patients and their spouses reported a moderate level of couple communication quality and family resilience, but spouses reported better couple communication and family resilience than patients. With the exception of perceived response, for which only a patient actor effect was observed, the factors of couple communication quality had significant actor effects on family resilience for both patients and spouses. Additionally, four significant partner effects were found: spouse self-disclosure, stress coping, and productive action positively predicted patients' family resilience, while patient normalcy crafting positively predicted spouses' family resilience. CONCLUSION: This study not only highlights the need for couple-based communication strategies for developing family resilience but also identifies differences in the experiences of patients and their partners, which provides a direction for future intervention research. Through the development of interventions at a dyadic level, spouses can be encouraged to actively engage in communication, which may promote mutual family resilience in a larger sense.