Examining discrepancies between actual and desired communal coping with type 2 diabetes

Erin D. Basinger, John P. Caughlin, Ningxin Wang

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract

Type 2 diabetes has deleterious physiological, psychological, and relational effects both on people living with diabetes (PLWD) and on their family members. We employed the communal coping model to investigate whether coping alongside family members was advantageous. Specifically, PLWD (n = 213) and family members of PLWD (n = 208) completed an online survey assessing their coping responses and a variety of diabetes-related outcomes (i.e., depressive symptoms, relationship satisfaction, and self-care). Generally, results indicated that more communal coping was beneficial. However, a second goal of this study was to examine discrepancies between levels of actual communal coping and desired communal coping, and the findings from these analyses add nuance to the generally held belief that more communal coping is always better.

Original languageEnglish (US)
Pages (from-to)538-564
Number of pages27
JournalPersonal Relationships
Volume25
Issue number4
DOIs
StatePublished - Dec 2018

Keywords

  • communal coping
  • discrepancies
  • response surface modeling
  • type 2 diabetes

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • Social Psychology
  • Anthropology
  • Developmental and Educational Psychology
  • Life-span and Life-course Studies

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Examining discrepancies between actual and desired communal coping with type 2 diabetes'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this