Do partners' personality resources add to the prediction of patients' coping and quality of life?

This study examines the effects of personal resources of both heart patient s and their close social partners on patients' coping and quality of life. Generalized personal resources (self-efficacy beliefs, dispositional optimi sm, self-regulation competence) and outcomes were assessed by questionnaire 1-3 days before surgery (n = 122) and again six months later (n = 50). Out come variables were coping styles, social resources (social support and soc ial integration), emotional states, end further measures of quality of life . Patients' personal resources were dominant in the prediction of most of t he outcomes. Partners' resources were uniquely related to social support, s ocial integration, and quality of life as perceived by the patients. Furthe r, partners' personality resources predicted changes in patients' lonelines s and energy levels during the six-month interval.