The relationship between dyadic coping and dyadic adjustment among HIV-serodiscordant couples

Abstract

Living within an HIV-serodiscordant relationship has been recognized as a stressful experience for both HIV-infected and HIV-uninfected partners. However, no study has examined the association between dyadic coping (DC) and dyadic adjustment of such couples. In this study, we analysed the association between DC (positive, negative, and common DC) and dyadic adjustment (consensus, satisfaction, cohesion) among HIVserodiscordant couples, considering individual and cross-partner effects. This cross-sectional study included a sample of 44 HIV-serodiscordant different-sex couples, in a relationship for an average of 16.46 years. The self-reported measures included the Dyadic Coping Inventory and the Revised Dyadic Adjustment Scale. For HIV-infected partners, their own common DC was significantly associated with cohesion, and a cross-partner effect of common DC on satisfaction was found. For HIV-uninfected partners, individual effects of common DC on all dyadic adjustment subscales and a cross-partner effect of common DC on cohesion were found. Additionally, their own and their HIV-infected partners' negative DC were significantly associated with cohesion and satisfaction, respectively. These findings suggest that the perception of common DC has a particularly important role in explaining the different components of dyadic adjustment of both partners facing HIV-serodiscordancy, whereas negative DC is linked to the adjustment of HIV-uninfected partners.

Partners’ Consensus About Joint Effort and COVID-19 Prevention Among Sexual Minority Men

“…A moderate to strong association between relationship satisfaction and dyadic coping was identified in a meta-analytic review of 39 studies (Falconier & Kuhn, 2019 ). This association has also been identified among heterosexual couples coping with health concerns such as cancer, infertility, and organ transplants (e.g., Badr et al, 2010 ; Molgora et al, 2019 ; Tkachenko et al, 2019 ; Van Schoors et al, 2019 ) and similar findings have been identified among partnered SMM in the realm of HIV-related health (Gamarel & Revenson, 2015 ; Martins et al, 2020 ) and non-HIV health concerns (Randall et al, 2017a , 2017b ; Rosenthal et al, 2019 ; Umberson et al, 2018 ).…”

Early exclusive breastfeeding cessation and postpartum depression: Assessing the mediating and moderating role of maternal stress and social support

“…In distress situations, social support buffers the detrimental effects of stressful events by enhancing self-efficacy, leading to fewer depressive symptoms [31,32]. Several studies also have portrayed that quality support from family is significantly connected with better adjustment to and healing from severe diseases, and with healthier neuroendocrine functioning and good mood [73][74][75][76]. As such, mothers lacking social support will have a harder time enduring the challenges linked with EBF along with the emotional toll connected with a sense of guilt and inadequacy due to early discontinuation of EBF, exaggerating links between EBF termination and PPD.…”

Systematic Review of the Relationship between Couple Dyadic Adjustment and Family Health

“…Couple dyadic adjustment represents the degree to which couples are satisfied with their relationship in domains such as cohesion, satisfaction, consensus, and affective expression (Table 2). Thus, high levels of dyadic adjustment reflect better adjustment and better quality of couple relationship [11,[16][17][18][19][20][21].…”