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Ambivalence Over Emotional Expression and Psychological Weil‐Being Among Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients and Their Spouses 1
Author(s) -
Tucker Joan S.,
Winkelman Darlene K.,
Katz Jeffrey N.,
Bermas Bonnie L.
Publication year - 1999
Publication title -
journal of applied social psychology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.822
H-Index - 111
eISSN - 1559-1816
pISSN - 0021-9029
DOI - 10.1111/j.1559-1816.1999.tb01386.x
Subject(s) - ambivalence , rheumatoid arthritis , psychology , expression (computer science) , emotional expression , social psychology , clinical psychology , medicine , computer science , programming language
Associations between ambivalence over emotional expression and psychological well‐being among rheumatoid arthritis patients and their spouses were investigated. Sixty‐nine couples completed questionnaires assessing ambivalence over emotional expression, emotional expressiveness, psychological well‐being, and strategies used in coping with arthritis. Associations between the patient's ambivalence and psychological well‐being were stronger for those married to a highly ambivalent spouse, although this pattern of results was not found for spouses. Lower psychological well‐being among more ambivalent spouses, and to a lesser extent patients, could be partially explained by their greater use of passive and distancing coping strategies. Results emphasize the importance of taking a dyadic approach to the study of psychological functioning among chronically ill patients and their spouses.