Shared possible selves, other-focus, and perceived wellness of couples with prostate cancer.

Shared possible selves are associated with better well-being in couples through their engagement in and enjoyment of collaboration (Schindler, Berg, Butler, Fortenberry, & Wiebe, 2010). The present study sought to address which partner's other-focus accounted for this sharedness in possible selves and how the individual and dyadic configurations of other-focused selves relate to health and well-being (i.e., perceived wellness) in an important health context for adult couples-prostate cancer. Sixty-one men diagnosed with prostate cancer and their wives rated their own subjective physical health and well-being and listed possible selves. Possible selves were reliably coded for the inclusion of the other (i.e., other-focus), either with the other as the subject or communal in content. Regression analysis showed that wives' other-focus, not husbands', explained variance in shared selves. A Bayesian actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) of both partners' other-focus and interaction between the 2 revealed a pattern that differed by partner. The association between husband other-focus and his perceived wellness was negative for husbands whose wives were low in other-focus and not significant for husbands with highly other-focused wives. Women's sense of perceived wellness did not relate to either partner's other-focus. Results support the notion that shared possible selves may be shared unequally in couples facing chronic illness and suggest the importance of considering both partners' other-focus to understand perceived wellness. Findings may point to more general processes of relational adaptation to major life stressors such as prostate cancer.

Daily well-being of cancer survivors: the role of somatic amplification.

OBJECTIVE: The current study examined the role that somatic amplification plays in placing cancer survivors at an increased risk of impairments in daily well-being, specifically severity of physical symptoms, positive affect and negative affect. METHODS: Participants were drawn from Midlife Development in the United States National Study of daily health and well-being (MIDUS) and the National Study of Daily Experiences (NSDE, Project 2). One hundred eleven individuals with a cancer history were compared with a matched comparison group of individuals who did not have a cancer history. RESULTS: Results show that across both groups, somatic amplification is associated with higher negative affect and higher severity of physical symptoms. However, results also show that a somatic amplification by cancer status interaction predicts severity of physical symptoms. The significant interaction indicates that in the comparison group, level of physical symptom severity is the same regardless of whether the individual is high or low on somatic amplification. However, in the group of individuals with a cancer history, individuals who are high on somatic amplification report more severe physical symptoms than individuals who are low on somatic amplification. CONCLUSIONS: These findings suggest that heightened attention to minor bodily symptoms impacts individuals with a cancer history differently than individuals who have not experienced cancer, and therefore, may have important implications for the manner in which continued care is provided to cancer survivors.