Attachment and couple satisfaction as predictors of expressed emotion in women facing breast cancer and their partners in the immediate post‐surgery period

Abstract

Practitioners should pay attention to the couple relationship in breast cancer. EE is most likely to appear when the cancer stage is low, showing that even when the medical prognosis is optimal, relational and emotional disturbances may occur. Statement of contribution What is already known on this subject? The couple relationship is of paramount importance in breast cancer. Expressed emotion (EE) is related to negative individual and relational psychological outcomes in psychiatric and somatic diseases. Expressed emotion has not yet been studied in the context of breast cancer. What does this study add? Expressed emotion is present in breast cancer situations, especially when the cancer stage is low. There was more EE in women than in their partners. Cancer stage, attachment tendencies, and couple satisfaction are predictors of EE.

Family Emotional Climate and Children with Autism Spectrum Disorder

“…Given evidence that mothers assume a disproportionate amount of daily parenting responsibilities in families of children with ASD (Callander & Lindsay, 2018), and often report a higher level of parenting stress than fathers (Foody et al, 2015), mothers were hypothesized to express high criticism and low warmth in the parent-child relationship more often than fathers. Based on FMSS research on the general population (Favez et al, 2017), mothers of children with ASD were expected to express high criticism about the parent couple relationship more often than fathers.…”

“…Research on the general population has used the FMSS to examine emotional quality in the couple relationship (Favez, Cairo, Notari, Anotnini, & Charvoz, 2017;Iles, Spiby, & Slade, 2014). In these studies, women were more likely to express high criticism toward their partner than men (62% vs. 49%, respectively; Favez et al, 2017). There are no published FMSS studies of parent couple relationship quality in families of children with ASD.…”

The Role of Couples' Attachment Styles in Patients' Adjustment to Cancer

“…The couple's relationship can be affected by various factors, such as the severity of the disease, the presence or absence of marital problems, the meaning that the patient and the spouse attribute to the disease, but also the attachment style between the spouses, which can determine the well-being and satisfaction in the life of a couple [6,7] .…”

Efficacy of an Attachment-Based Intervention Model on Health Indices in Children with Chronic Disease and Their Mothers

“…They also mention that attachment anxiety predicts higher levels of interleukin-6, greater sleep disturbance and longer hospital stay. Finally, Favez et al ( 2017 ) demonstrate similar results in women with breast cancer indicating higher attachment anxiety and lower couple satisfaction are both predictive of more criticisms in these subjects. To further explicate the attachment and disease linkage, Maunder and Hunter ( 2009 ), Meredith et al ( 2008 ) and Pietromonaco et al ( 2013 ) unanimously hypothesize disease as a stressful situation which activates patients’ attachment styles and related cognitive, emotional, and behavioral characteristics.…”

“…Although studying attachment in relation to disease/health is a relatively recent phenomenon (Maunder and Hunter 2004 ), some health studies demonstrate a link between secure attachment and mechanisms related to physical health and positive outcomes of chronic diseases (Favez et al 2017 ; Kidd et al 2016 ; Agostini et al 2014 ; Calvo et al 2014 ;; Robles and Kane 2014 ;; van der Meer 2015 ). These studies do not address causality but suggest attachment style affects physical health through its impact on symptom amplification, health behavior, stress response, patient-provider relationships and social support utilization.…”