TY - JOUR
T1 - Correlates of sexual quality of life among husbands of Chinese breast cancer survivors
AU - Yeung, Nelson C.Y.
AU - Zhang, Yiwei
AU - Ji, Lili
AU - Lu, Guohua
AU - Lu, Qian
N1 - Funding Information:
Husbands of Chinese breast cancer patients 1) having diagnosed of Stages 0-III within 3 years and 2) having undergone surgery to treat breast cancer were eligible for the study. Participants were recruited primarily by referrals from physicians and nurses at two hospitals in Weifang, Shandong province, China. Both hospitals had oncology clinics specific for breast cancer patients. Prospective participants were provided with a cover letter and a consent form explaining the purpose and procedure of the study by a research nurse. After informed consent, participants were asked to complete the questionnaires in a quiet room in the hospital, put the completed questionnaires into an envelope, seal the envelope, and return that to the research nurse. The questionnaires took approximately 30 min to complete. After finishing the questionnaire, participants were given a compensation gift for thanking their participation according to local guidelines (worth RMB25, equivalent to USD3.9). The study protocol was granted approval from the relevant Institutional Review Boards from the Weifang Medical University and the University of Houston. The recruitment lasted for 6 months.
Publisher Copyright:
© 2019
PY - 2019/6
Y1 - 2019/6
N2 - Purpose: Western studies found that sexual quality of life (QoL) among husbands of breast cancer survivors was associated with their stress and coping processes. However, little is known about how breast cancer caregiving might be associated with those husbands’ sexual QoL in the Chinese cultural context. Guided by the Stress and Coping model, we examined the psychosocial correlates of sexual QoL among husbands of Chinese breast cancer survivors. Method: Husbands of Chinese breast cancer survivors (N = 176) recruited from two hospitals in Weifang, China completed a cross-sectional survey. Their individual characteristics, caregiving-related stressors, cognitive appraisals, coping resources and strategies, and sexual QoL were measured. Results: After controlling for covariates, hierarchical regression results showed that lower caregiving burden (β = −0.34, p <.001), higher marital satisfaction (β = 0.20, p <.001), and lower harm/threat appraisals (β from −0.22 to −0.20, p <.001) were associated with better sexual QoL. Moreover, ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE; inner conflict concerning the desire to express emotions yet failing to do so) was found to moderate between protective buffering and sexual QoL (β = 0.20, p <.01), such that the negative association between protective buffering and sexual QoL was only significant among those with higher AEE (β = −0.38, p <.003). Conclusions: Both the stress and coping variables and their interactions with individual characteristics could be important determinants of those husbands' sexual QoL. Our findings implied that reducing husbands’ caregiving burden, increasing their marital satisfaction, helping them reevaluate the negative impact of breast cancer, and reducing barriers for expressing emotions and concerns may increase their sexual well-being.
AB - Purpose: Western studies found that sexual quality of life (QoL) among husbands of breast cancer survivors was associated with their stress and coping processes. However, little is known about how breast cancer caregiving might be associated with those husbands’ sexual QoL in the Chinese cultural context. Guided by the Stress and Coping model, we examined the psychosocial correlates of sexual QoL among husbands of Chinese breast cancer survivors. Method: Husbands of Chinese breast cancer survivors (N = 176) recruited from two hospitals in Weifang, China completed a cross-sectional survey. Their individual characteristics, caregiving-related stressors, cognitive appraisals, coping resources and strategies, and sexual QoL were measured. Results: After controlling for covariates, hierarchical regression results showed that lower caregiving burden (β = −0.34, p <.001), higher marital satisfaction (β = 0.20, p <.001), and lower harm/threat appraisals (β from −0.22 to −0.20, p <.001) were associated with better sexual QoL. Moreover, ambivalence over emotional expression (AEE; inner conflict concerning the desire to express emotions yet failing to do so) was found to moderate between protective buffering and sexual QoL (β = 0.20, p <.01), such that the negative association between protective buffering and sexual QoL was only significant among those with higher AEE (β = −0.38, p <.003). Conclusions: Both the stress and coping variables and their interactions with individual characteristics could be important determinants of those husbands' sexual QoL. Our findings implied that reducing husbands’ caregiving burden, increasing their marital satisfaction, helping them reevaluate the negative impact of breast cancer, and reducing barriers for expressing emotions and concerns may increase their sexual well-being.
KW - Breast cancer
KW - Caregiving
KW - Coping
KW - Husband
KW - Sexual well-being
KW - Stress
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U2 - 10.1016/j.ejon.2019.03.007
DO - 10.1016/j.ejon.2019.03.007
M3 - Article
C2 - 31229208
AN - SCOPUS:85063882648
SN - 1462-3889
VL - 40
SP - 63
EP - 70
JO - European Journal of Oncology Nursing
JF - European Journal of Oncology Nursing
ER -