Tag: relationships

Relationship satisfaction, communication self-efficacy, and chronic fatigue syndrome-related fatigue

Abstract:

RATIONALE: Relationship dissatisfaction has been linked with worse health outcomes in many patient populations, though the mechanism(s) underlying this effect are unclear. Among patients with chronic fatigue syndrome (CFS) and their partners, there is evidence for a bi-directional association between poorer relationship satisfaction and the severity of CFS-related fatigue.

OBJECTIVE: Here, we hypothesized that relationship dissatisfaction negatively impacts fatigue severity through greater depression and less patient satisfaction about communication about symptoms to partners.

METHOD: Baseline data were drawn from diagnosed CFS patients (N = 150) participating in a trial testing the efficacy of a stress management intervention. Data derived from fatigue severity (Fatigue Symptom Index, FSI), depression (Center for Epidemiologic Survey-Depression, CES-D), relationship quality (Dyadic Adjustment Scale, DAS) and communication satisfaction (Patient Symptom Disclosure Satisfaction, PSDS) questionnaires were used for bootstrapped indirect effect analyses using parallel mediation structural equation modeling in Mplus (v8). Age and BMI were entered as covariates.

RESULTS: Greater relationship satisfaction predicted greater communication satisfaction (p < 0.01) and lower CES-D scores (p < 0.01), which in turn were each significantly related to greater fatigue severity (p < 0.05). Tests of the indirect paths indicated that relationship satisfaction had a significant effect on fatigue severity through both constructs, but primarily via depression. There was no direct association between relationship satisfaction and fatigue severity after the intermediate variables (depression, communication satisfaction) were included in the model.

CONCLUSION: Results highlight the importance of considering depression and communication-related factors when examining the effects of relationship satisfaction on CFS symptoms such as fatigue. Further mechanism-based, longitudinal research might identify relationship-related mediating variables that can be targeted therapeutically.

Copyright © 2019. Published by Elsevier Ltd.

Source: Milrad SF, Hall DL, Jutagir DR, Lattie EG, Czaja SJ, Perdomo DM, Ironson G, Doss BD, Mendez A, Fletcher MA, Klimas N, Antoni MH. Relationship satisfaction, communication self-efficacy, and chronic fatigue syndrome-related fatigue. Soc Sci Med. 2019 Jul 16;237:112392. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2019.112392. [Epub ahead of print] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/31377502

Love Means Never Having to Say … Anything

By Jamison Hill, New York Times, May 25, 2018

After dating Shannon for several months, I needed to say something to her, but I couldn’t. It’s not that I was nervous or unsure of the phrasing. It’s that I couldn’t speak. My lungs and larynx couldn’t create the air pressure and vibrations needed to say the words floating around my mind.

This is our reality. I can’t talk to Shannon about anything — not the weather or her day or how beautiful she is. Worst of all, I can’t tell her I love her.

You can read the rest of this moving essay HERE.

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About the author: A graduate of Sonoma State University, Jamison Hill is a former bodybuilder, model, and fitness instructor. He has written for, among others, The Washington Post, Men’s Journal, The Los Angeles Times, Vox, Quartz, VICE and The New York Times. Jamison appeared in the documentary, Forgotten Plague, and his story is featured in an upcoming Netflix documentary about mysterious diseases. He writes about living with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome and Lyme disease at JamisonWrites.com. Jamison is currently finishing his memoir, When Force Meets Fate.