Abstract
Elevated distress and depressive symptoms are prevalent aspects of cancer diagnosis and treatment. A patient’s close social relationships can play an important role in influencing a patient’s depressive symptoms. Spousal social support has been associated with lower levels of depressive symptoms. In contrast, social constraint has been associated with greater levels of depressive symptoms. Although both constructs have typically been studied separately, examining both constructs together allows for a level of nuance in the patient’s social environment that neither construct alone can fully explain. This study aimed to compare the associations of spousal social support and social constraint with depressive symptoms in a sample of newly diagnosed, married or partnered colorectal cancer patients. It was hypothesized that (1) social support would be uniquely and negatively associated with depressive symptoms, (2) social constraint would be uniquely and positively associated with depressive symptoms, and (3) the absolute magnitude of the association of social constraint with depressive symptoms would be larger than that of social support. Participants were 124 patients newly diagnosed with colon or rectal cancer. Social support, social constraint, and depressive symptoms were self-reported using standardized measures. Covariates included age, gender, advanced cancer stage, and income. Results showed that only social constraint was significantly associated with depressive symptoms (p < 0.001) and the effect of social constraint was significantly greater than that of social support (p < 0.05). Findings suggest that greater attention on patients’ perceptions of constraining behaviors from their spouse/partners that consequently might affect their expression of cancer-related feelings and thoughts is warranted in close relationship research and clinical practice for managing depressive symptoms.