Couples dealing with cancer: Role and gender differences regarding psychological distress and quality of life

The goal of the present study was to further knowledge on gender and role ( i.e. patient versus partner) differences in psychological distress and qual ity of life as a consequence of dealing with cancer. There is some evidence that being the patient or the caregiver makes more difference for men than for women. In total, 173 couples facing various forms of cancer (two sampl es) and a control group of 80 couples completed the CES-D and Cantril's Lad der. Analyses of variance revealed that both female patients and female par tners of patients perceived more psychological distress and a lower quality of life than women in healthy couples. In contrast, role did have an effec t on men. Specifically. male patients scored as high on psychological distr ess and as low on quality of life as female patients and female partners, b ut psychological distress and quality of life did not differ between male p artners of patients and their healthy controls. However, this effect was fo und in only one patient sample. The finding that female partners perceived more psychological distress and a lower quality of life than male partners could not be accounted for by differences in the physical condition of the patient or the partner. Copyright (C) 2000 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.