Demographic differences in Dyadic Coping-Based Gratitude, Negative Dyadic Coping and Perceived Stress Among Potential Caregivers of Cancer Patients

Abstract

The current study investigated how potential caregivers' levels of dyadic coping-based gratitude, negative coping, and perceived stress varied by gender and relationship status with the cancer patient. Thirty males and forty females made up the sample of seventy possible caregivers. Gender differences were examined using independent-samples t-tests, and differences between caregiver-patient relationship types were examined using Tukey HSD post hoc comparisons and one-way analysis of variance (ANOVA). Negative dyadic coping, perceived stress, and partner-directed dyadic coping-based gratitude did not significantly differ by gender. However, in self-directed dyadic coping, women responded with gratitude at a significantly higher rate than men, with a medium effect size. In the post hoc comparison, partner-directed negative dyadic coping was not significantly higher among wives than mothers, but it was significantly correlated with the type of relationship. The remaining study variables and the kind of relationship did not differ significantly. While self-directed gratitude and partner-directed negative dyadic coping may be more sensitive to gender and relational role, respectively, the results generally show little variation across the demographic groups in the majority of the study variables.