Title page for ETD etd-11102005-141131
|Type of Document
||Edwards, Todd M.
||Levels of personal disclosure and engagement in communication of later-life couples coping with chronic illness
||Family and Child Development
|Sporakowski, Michael J.
|Arditti, Joyce A.
|Protinsky, Howard O. Jr.
- chronic illness
|Date of Defense
The relationships between marital communication of later-life couples
coping with chronic, physical illness, caregiver depression and marital
satisfaction were examined in this study of 25 patients and their spouse
caregivers. Guided by Bowen Theory, lag sequential analyses and sequence
repetition analyses were conducted on observational data to determine the
effects of open communication, closed communication, and pursuer-distancer
communication on caregiver depression and marital satisfaction.
The findings indicate that reciprocal closed communication between
caregivers and spouses was positively related to caregiver depression,
reciprocal open communication between caregivers and spouses was
negatively related to marital satisfaction, and reciprocal pursuer-distancer
communication was negatively related to marital satisfaction. Further,
sustained pursuer-distancer communication was related to higher caregiver
depression. Communication patterns were found to be related to family of
origin relationships. Possible explanations for these findings and
implications for family therapy and future research are discussed.
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