IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/eee/socmed/v62y2006i6p1369-1380.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Understanding health behavior change among couples: An interdependence and communal coping approach

Author

Listed:
  • Lewis, Megan A.
  • McBride, Colleen M.
  • Pollak, Kathryn I.
  • Puleo, Elaine
  • Butterfield, Rita M.
  • Emmons, Karen M.

Abstract

Marriage is a ubiquitous social status that consistently is linked to health. Despite this, there has been very little theory development or related research on the extent to which couple members are jointly motivated to and actively engage in health-enhancing behaviors. In this paper we propose an integrative model, based on interdependence theory and communal coping perspectives, that explicitly considers dyadic processes as determinants of couple behavior. Our integrated model applies these constructs to consider how couple dynamics might influence adoption of risk-reducing health habits. Accordingly, we suggest that the couple's interdependence can transform motivation from doing what is in the best interest of the self (person-centered), to doing even selfless actions that are best for the continuation of the relationship (relationship-centered). In turn, this transformation can lead to enhanced motivation for the couple to cope communally or act cooperatively in adopting health-enhancing behavior change. Implications for research related to couples and health behavior change are also highlighted.

Suggested Citation

  • Lewis, Megan A. & McBride, Colleen M. & Pollak, Kathryn I. & Puleo, Elaine & Butterfield, Rita M. & Emmons, Karen M., 2006. "Understanding health behavior change among couples: An interdependence and communal coping approach," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 62(6), pages 1369-1380, March.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:6:p:1369-1380
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0277-9536(05)00423-5
    Download Restriction: Full text for ScienceDirect subscribers only
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Ren, Xinhua Steve, 1997. "Marital status and quality of relationships: The impact on health perception," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 44(2), pages 241-249, January.
    2. Waldron, Ingrid & Hughes, Mary Elizabeth & Brooks, Tracy L., 1996. "Marriage protection and marriage selection--Prospective evidence for reciprocal effects of marital status and health," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 43(1), pages 113-123, July.
    3. Umberson, Debra, 1992. "Gender, marital status and the social control of health behavior," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 34(8), pages 907-917, April.
    4. Wilson, Sven E., 2002. "The health capital of families: an investigation of the inter-spousal correlation in health status," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 55(7), pages 1157-1172, October.
    5. Revenson, Tracey A. & Schiaffino, Kathleen M. & Deborah Majerovitz, S. & Gibofsky, Allan, 1991. "Social support as a double-edged sword: The relation of positive and problematic support to depression among rheumatoid arthritis patients," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 33(7), pages 807-813, January.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Citations

    Citations are extracted by the CitEc Project, subscribe to its RSS feed for this item.
    as


    Cited by:

    1. Aalsma, Matthew C. & Carpentier, Melissa Y. & Azzouz, Faouzi & Fortenberry, J. Dennis, 2012. "Longitudinal effects of health-harming and health-protective behaviors within adolescent romantic dyads," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(9), pages 1444-1451.
    2. Anne Lhuissier, 2010. "Introduction - Maigrir : de la terminologie aux prariques," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement, INRA Department of Economics, vol. 91(2), pages 117-125.
    3. Reczek, Corinne, 2012. "The promotion of unhealthy habits in gay, lesbian, and straight intimate partnerships," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(6), pages 1114-1121.
    4. Hillesheim, Joseph R. & Starks, Tyrel J., 2024. "Drug use and condomless sex among sexual minority men in relationships: Whether relationship quality is a risk or protective factor depends upon what they believe their partners do," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 351(C).
    5. Crankshaw, T.L. & Voce, A. & Butler, L.M. & Darbes, L., 2016. "Expanding the relationship context for couple-based HIV prevention: Elucidating women's perspectives on non-traditional sexual partnerships," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 166(C), pages 169-176.
    6. Hampanda, K. & Matenga, T.F.L. & Nkwemu, S. & Shankalala, P. & Chi, B.H. & Darbes, L.A. & Turan, J.M. & Mutale, W. & Bull, S. & Abuogi, L., 2021. "Designing a couple-based relationship strengthening and health enhancing intervention for pregnant women living with HIV and their male partners in Zambia: Interview findings from the target community," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 283(C).
    7. Lhuissier, Anne, 2010. "Introduction - Maigrir : de la terminologie aux prariques," Review of Agricultural and Environmental Studies - Revue d'Etudes en Agriculture et Environnement (RAEStud), Institut National de la Recherche Agronomique (INRA), vol. 91(2).
    8. McBride, Colleen M. & Puleo, Elaine & Pollak, Kathryn I. & Clipp, Elizabeth C. & Woolford, Sam & Emmons, Karen M., 2008. "Understanding the role of cancer worry in creating a "teachable moment" for multiple risk factor reduction," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(3), pages 790-800, February.
    9. Missinne, Sarah & Colman, Elien & Bracke, Piet, 2013. "Spousal influence on mammography screening: A life course perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 63-70.
    10. Ranby, Krista W. & Roberts, Sydneyjane & Wooldridge, Jennalee S. & Ulrich, Gillian R., 2023. "Differences between complete and incomplete couples in physical health research: Implications for methods and generalizability," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 327(C).
    11. Francetic, Igor & Meacock, Rachel & Sutton, Matt, 2022. "Understanding Concordance in Health Behaviours among Couples: Evidence from the Bowel Cancer Screening Programme in England," Journal of Economic Behavior & Organization, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 310-345.
    12. Trogdon, Justin G. & Allaire, Benjamin T., 2014. "The effect of friend selection on social influences in obesity," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 15(C), pages 153-164.
    13. Roberson, Patricia N.E. & Shorter, Rebecca L. & Woods, Sarah & Priest, Jacob, 2018. "How health behaviors link romantic relationship dysfunction and physical health across 20 years for middle-aged and older adults," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 201(C), pages 18-26.
    14. Thompson, Tess & Ketcher, Dana & Gray, Tamryn F. & Kent, Erin E., 2021. "The Dyadic Cancer Outcomes Framework: A general framework of the effects of cancer on patients and informal caregivers," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 287(C).
    15. Jolidon, Vladimir, 2022. "Gender inequality and mammography screening: Does living with a partner improve women's mammography uptake?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    16. Rhodes, Tim & Rance, Jake & Fraser, Suzanne & Treloar, Carla, 2017. "The intimate relationship as a site of social protection: Partnerships between people who inject drugs," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 180(C), pages 125-134.
    17. Skalická, Vera & Kunst, Anton E., 2008. "Effects of spouses' socioeconomic characteristics on mortality among men and women in a Norwegian longitudinal study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 66(9), pages 2035-2047, May.
    18. Conroy, Amy A. & McGrath, Nuala & van Rooyen, Heidi & Hosegood, Victoria & Johnson, Mallory O. & Fritz, Katherine & Marr, Alexander & Ngubane, Thulani & Darbes, Lynae A., 2016. "Power and the association with relationship quality in South African couples: Implications for HIV/AIDS interventions," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 153(C), pages 1-11.
    19. Conroy, Amy A. & Wong, Lauren H., 2015. "How reliable are self-reports of HIV status disclosure? Evidence from couples in Malawi," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 144(C), pages 28-37.
    20. Johnson, Blair T. & Acabchuk, Rebecca L., 2018. "What are the keys to a longer, happier life? Answers from five decades of health psychology research," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 218-226.
    21. Conroy, Amy A. & McKenna, Stacey A. & Comfort, Megan L. & Darbes, Lynae A. & Tan, Judy Y. & Mkandawire, James, 2018. "Marital infidelity, food insecurity, and couple instability: A web of challenges for dyadic coordination around antiretroviral therapy," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 214(C), pages 110-117.

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Rong Fu & Haruko Noguchi, 2018. "Does the positive relationship between health and marriage reflect protection or selection? Evidence from middle-aged and elderly Japanese," Review of Economics of the Household, Springer, vol. 16(4), pages 1003-1016, December.
    2. Wilson, Chris M. & Oswald, Andrew J., 2005. "How Does Marriage Affect Physical and Psychological Health? A Survey of the Longitudinal Evidence," Economic Research Papers 269622, University of Warwick - Department of Economics.
    3. G. Miller & Yuriy Pylypchuk, 2014. "Marital Status, Spousal Characteristics, and the Use of Preventive Care," Journal of Family and Economic Issues, Springer, vol. 35(3), pages 323-338, September.
    4. Pollitt, Amanda M. & Donnelly, Rachel & Mernitz, Sara E. & Umberson, Debra, 2020. "Differences in how spouses influence each other's alcohol use in same- and different-sex marriages: A daily diary study," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 264(C).
    5. Missinne, Sarah & Colman, Elien & Bracke, Piet, 2013. "Spousal influence on mammography screening: A life course perspective," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 98(C), pages 63-70.
    6. Espinosa, Javier & Evans, William N., 2008. "Heightened mortality after the death of a spouse: Marriage protection or marriage selection?," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 27(5), pages 1326-1342, September.
    7. Ribar, David C., 2004. "What Do Social Scientists Know About the Benefits of Marriage? A Review of Quantitative Methodologies," IZA Discussion Papers 998, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    8. Jolidon, Vladimir, 2022. "Gender inequality and mammography screening: Does living with a partner improve women's mammography uptake?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 298(C).
    9. Wilson, Sven E., 2012. "Marriage, gender and obesity in later life," Economics & Human Biology, Elsevier, vol. 10(4), pages 431-453.
    10. Meyler, Deanna & Stimpson, Jim P. & Peek, M. Kristen, 2007. "Health concordance within couples: A systematic review," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 64(11), pages 2297-2310, June.
    11. Shuai Chen & Jan C. Ours, 2018. "Subjective Well-being and Partnership Dynamics: Are Same-Sex Relationships Different?," Demography, Springer;Population Association of America (PAA), vol. 55(6), pages 2299-2320, December.
    12. Woojin Chung & Roeul Kim, 2014. "Does Marriage Really Matter to Health? Intra- and Inter-Country Evidence from China, Japan, Taiwan, and the Republic of Korea," PLOS ONE, Public Library of Science, vol. 9(8), pages 1-10, August.
    13. Miika Mäki & Anna Erika Hägglund & Anna Rotkirch & Sangita Kulathinal & Mikko Myrskylä, 2022. "Stable marital histories predict happiness and health across educational groups," MPIDR Working Papers WP-2022-035, Max Planck Institute for Demographic Research, Rostock, Germany.
    14. Solveig Glestad Christiansen & Øystein Kravdal, 2023. "Union Status and Disability Pension," European Journal of Population, Springer;European Association for Population Studies, vol. 39(1), pages 1-19, December.
    15. Reczek, Corinne, 2012. "The promotion of unhealthy habits in gay, lesbian, and straight intimate partnerships," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 75(6), pages 1114-1121.
    16. Christopher S. Carpenter & Samuel T. Eppink & Gilbert Gonzales & Tara McKay, 2021. "Effects of Access to Legal Same‐Sex Marriage on Marriage and Health," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 40(2), pages 376-411, March.
    17. N. Mofidi & M. Ghazinour & M. Araste & L. Jacobsson & J. Richter, 2008. "General Mental Health, Quality of Life and Suicide-Related Attitudes Among Kurdish People in Iran," International Journal of Social Psychiatry, , vol. 54(5), pages 457-468, September.
    18. Sun, Yu & You, Wen, 2018. "Health effects associated with marital status transition among elders in China," 2018 Annual Meeting, August 5-7, Washington, D.C. 274173, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    19. Requena, Miguel & Reher, David, 2021. "Partnership and mortality in mid and late life: Protection or selection?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 279(C).
    20. Kilpi, Fanny & Konttinen, Hanna & Silventoinen, Karri & Martikainen, Pekka, 2015. "Living arrangements as determinants of myocardial infarction incidence and survival: A prospective register study of over 300,000 Finnish men and women," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 133(C), pages 93-100.

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:eee:socmed:v:62:y:2006:i:6:p:1369-1380. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Catherine Liu (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.elsevier.com/wps/find/journaldescription.cws_home/315/description#description .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.