Gender and Role Differences in Couples’ Communication During Cancer Survivorship

Abstract

BACKGROUND: Individuals with cancer and their partners often experience communication difficulties. However, questions still remain regarding the influence of gender and role in cancer survivor-partner communication within couples. OBJECTIVE: The current study intended to examine the communication patterns in breast, colorectal, and prostate cancer survivor-partner couples during cancer survivorship and whether gender and role differences in couples communication exist. METHODS: The dominant-less dominant method of sequential mixed design was used. Ten couples who were recruited from the University Hospital registry in Cleveland, Ohio, participated in both mail surveys and individual interviews. Family and cancer-related communication was assessed in the quantitative phase. RESULTS: Both male survivors and partners demonstrated better family communication scores compared with their female counterparts, whereas there were no gender differences in the cancer-related communication scores. In the qualitative phase, 3 major themes were identified: (1) selective sharing of cancer-related issues, (2) initiation of cancer-related communication, and (3) emotional reaction in communication. The patterns associated with these themes differed between the male survivor-female partner and female survivor-male partner couples. CONCLUSIONS: This study provides new knowledge about family and cancer-related communication. Our findings highlight the importance of understanding different perspectives in the quality of communication by gender and role. IMPLICATIONS FOR PRACTICE: Exploring couples' communication patterns by gender and role stimulates the research and the development of effective consumer-centered communication interventions. The findings provide assessment tools to inform dyadic communication patterns for clinical and scientific purposes.