Protective Buffering among Post-Divorce Parent-Adolescent Dyads

After a divorce, parents and children try to minimize each other’s distress by hiding their feelings and pretending they are doing fine, a coping strategy called protective buffering (PB). Although there is substantial evidence that PB among romantic partners harms both partners’ well-being, the consequences of PB in parent-child relationships remain unclear. To examine PB among parents and children, we conducted a survey study among 100 dyads of Dutch divorced parents and their adolescent children. We examined actor and partner effects of PB on post-divorce adjustment. We additionally investigated whether decreases in authenticity and intimacy explained the association between PB and post-divorce adjustment. Data were analyzed by employing an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) and an APIM extended to Mediation. Results revealed that PB was negatively associated with parents’ life satisfaction, and to children’s life satisfaction and divorce-specific well-being. These negative actor effects were mediated by decreased authenticity for both parents and children. Consistent with research on PB in romantic relationships, PB not only impeded own post-divorce adjustment, but also the adjustment of the person participants tried to protect. Specifically, children’s PB was negatively associated with their parents’ divorce-specific well-being. Although further research is needed, the present study was the first to provide insights into the paradoxical effects of PB in parent-adolescent relationships.

Couples Facing Skin Cancer in Old Age: A Dyadic Investigation of Partner Support and Quality of Life

This study investigated perceived support received by partners and its association with quality of life (QOL) in older couples facing skin cancer. Thirty couples ( n = 60; M Age = 70) in which one partner had a skin cancer diagnosis (PwSC) completed either online or paper surveys about their skin cancer diagnosis, perceived partner support, and overall QOL. Actor–partner interdependence models revealed that when PwSCs reported overprotection from their healthy partners (HPs), they were more likely to report lower QOL. Protective buffering received by HPs was negatively associated with their QOL as well as their PwSCs QOL. Active engagement support, however, was not associated with either partner’s QOL. While couples may use all three styles of relationship-focused support, protective buffering and overprotection affected each partner’s QOL. Implications of the study findings for interventions for couples facing illnesses like skin cancer are discussed.

Fear of Cancer Recurrence and Inhibited Disclosure: Testing the Social-Cognitive Processing Model in Couples Coping With Breast Cancer

Background Withholding cancer-related concerns from one’s partner (protective buffering) and feeling that one’s partner is inaccessible or unresponsive to such disclosure (social constraints) are two interpersonal interaction patterns that separately have been linked to poorer adjustment to cancer. Purpose Guided by the Social-Cognitive Processing Model, we examined the joint effects of social constraints and protective buffering on fear of cancer recurrence (FCR) in survivors and spouses. Social constraints and protective buffering were hypothesized to emerge as independent predictors of higher FCR. Methods Early-stage breast cancer survivors and spouses (N = 79 couples; 158 paired individuals) completed up to five repeated measures of FCR, social constraints, protective buffering, and relationship quality during the year postdiagnosis. A second-order growth curve model was estimated and extended to test the time-varying, within-person effects of social constraints and protective buffering on a latent FCR variable, controlling for relationship quality. Results As hypothesized, greater social constraints and protective buffering significantly (p < .05) predicted higher concurrent FCR at the within-person level, controlling for global relationship quality and change in FCR over time. The fixed effects were found to be similar for both survivors and spouses. Conclusions Findings suggest that interaction patterns resulting in inhibited disclosure are associated with greater FCR for both survivors and spouses, consistent with the Social-Cognitive Processing Model. This work adds to the growing body of research highlighting the social context of FCR.