The Impact of Pandemic on Couples With Cancer: Examining the Role of Cancer-Related Communication on Cancer-Related Distress Via the Actor–Partner Interdependence Model

The present study draws attention to the significance of considering cancer-related communication on cancer-related distress through the vulnerability–stress–adaptation model among couples with cancer during the pandemic. This is a quantitative dyadic study with a sample of 80 couples (N = 160). Dyadic data were analyzed among couples with cancer to examine the within-person (actor effects) and between-partner (partner effects) associations among links between cancer-related communication and cancer-related distress through the use of actor–partner interdependence models. Significant actor and partner effects were found for cancer-related communication in partners facing cancer, a factor that predicted cancer-related distress. The findings underscore the need to adopt a systemic perspective that accounts for multiple, simultaneous adaptive processes including cancer-related communication as influences on cancer-related distress in the time of COVID-19.