Stress and coping processes in men with prostate cancer: The divergent views of husbands and wives

Using a retrospective methodology, the information from 57 survivors of pro state cancer and their spouses about patients' stress, coping, and support during treatment was obtained. Despite remembering having experienced subst antial stress, survivors of prostate cancer were quite well adjusted. Patie nts remembered coping primarily by seeking support and indicated that they received a great deal of support from numerous potential support providers. Patients and wives failed to agree on patients' stress experiences, with w ives consistently reporting that their husbands experienced more stress tha n the husbands themselves reported. Convergence in patient-wife reports of the patients' coping and support was somewhat better, but was still poor. A lthough recollections of coping strategy use during treatment, particularly the use of emotion-focused strategies, was related to current adjustment, measures of divergence in patient-wife reports were not.