The Profile of Mood States was used to measure distress in 44 patients with
breast cancer at 15 and 34 months after the diagnosis. Marital satisfactio
n, measured by the Dyadic Adjustment Scale, was found to predict change in
patients' distress over time. Patients who reported that their marriage was
unsatisfactory, regardless of their report of distress 15 months after the
diagnosis, were at greater risk for elevated distress in the future than w
ere those who were satisfied with their marriage. The findings suggest that
marital satisfaction could be used as an indicator of a patient's trajecto
ry of distress over time.