The effects of chronic illness on the spouse. Social resources as stress buffers

This study examined the effects of rheumatoid arthritis (RA) on spouses' psychological well-being and the role of social resources in enhancing adaptation in the face of illness-related stress. Spouses of 42 patients with RA completed a mailed questionnaire assessing marital adjustment, social support received from the person with RA and from the close social network, and depressive symptoms. Illness-related stress was assessed using rheumatologists' assessments of patients' disease severity and patients' self-reports of depressive symptoms. Social resources within and outside the marriage were related to spouses' well-being through different pathways. Marital adjustment had a direct effect on well-being, such that greater marital adjustment was related to lower depression. In contrast, support from the social network operated in a stress-buffering fashion: When the patient's illness was more severe, spouses with greater network support experienced fewer depressive symptoms. Implications of these findings for psychosocial interventions are discussed.