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With
over 570, 000 procedures performed annually, coronary artery bypass grafting
(CABG) is the most common invasive treatment for advanced coronary heart
disease in the United States (American Heart Association, 2002).
In addition to traditional medical factors psychosocial variables are increasingly
recognized as relevant to post-surgical quality of life and health. For
example, studies have demonstrated prospective relationships between an
individual's presurgical psychological disposition and post-CABG recovery.
Close social relationships are also of increasing interest to health researchers.
A general conceptualization of patient-caregiver relationships assumes
caregivers are beneficial to patients where patients are a burden on their
social network (Schulz & Beach, 1999). However, such assumptions
limit understanding of interpersonal relationships and the potential effects
of partner disposition on dyadic partner's quality of life and health.
A transactional conceptualization suggests that the patient's psychological
disposition (positive or negative) would influence not only their own quality
of life and health but also their partner's through disposition congruent
social behaviors and emotion expression. Likewise, caregivers may
be a burden as well as resource to the patient through similar transitional
dynamics toward the patient. Such transactional processes, particularly
the role of psychological dispositions, are rarely studied in the context
of coping with illness. |
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