Vicki S Helgeson

Research has increasingly recognized the links of communal coping—a shared appraisal of a stressor and collaborative action to manage it—to positive adjustment outcomes in chronic illness. However, past literature rarely examines if these two components have unique links to relationship and health outcomes, if one component is more strongly linked than the other component to these outcomes, or if the two components interact to influence outcomes. Additionally, the impact of shared appraisal and collaboration may depend on the source—the patient or the romantic partner. In a study of 200 patients with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes and their spouses, daily reports of shared appraisal and collaboration, mood, support interactions, and patient self-care were collected over 14 consecutive days. Multi-level modeling showed that both patient and spouse reports of shared appraisal and collaboration were linked independently to support interactions and better mood for patients and spouses, while collaboration alone was linked to self-care. Further, collaboration was generally more strongly linked to behavioral outcomes—support and self-care—than shared appraisal, while links to mood were similar for shared appraisal and collaboration. Shared appraisal and collaboration also interacted such that shared appraisal was particularly beneficial for those who reported low collaboration. Finally, results suggested one’s own reports of shared appraisal and collaboration were more strongly linked to outcomes than partner reports. Overall, these findings demonstrate unique impacts of daily shared appraisal and collaboration on adjustment to chronic illness for patients and spouses.