Positive dyadic coping helps cancer couples address health challenges, and illness perception is closely linked to coping strategy choices. Prior research predominantly examined individual-level associations. Our study aims to explore the interactive associations between illness perception, its dissimilarities, and dyadic coping in cancer couples.

We recruited 263 cancer couples from hospitals (November 2022 and December 2023) using convenience sampling. Participants completed the Dyadic Coping Inventory and the Brief Illness Perception Questionnaire. We applied the Actor-Partner Interdependence Model and constructed the Dyadic Dissimilarity Model using AMOS 24.0.

Patients with cancer and their spouses exhibited a moderate degree of dyadic coping. Patients’ dyadic coping showed actor effects with cognitive representations (β = −0.194, P = .016) and partner effects with emotional representations (β = 0.173, P = .023), as well as with illness comprehensibility (β = −0.264, P = .001). Spouses’ dyadic coping exhibited actor effects with cognitive representations (β = −0.198, P = .007) and illness comprehensibility (β = −0.287, P = .001), and a partner effect with emotional representations (β = 0.206, P = .01). Dyadic coping correlated significantly with dissimilarities in cognitive representations and illness comprehensibility.

Dyadic coping correlates with both individuals’ and their partners’ illness perceptions, and couples’ dissimilarity in illness perception also impacts dyadic coping.

Healthcare professionals should adopt dyadic assessments to identify dissimilarities in illness perceptions between cancer patients and their spouses. Developing targeted interventions to align cognitive representations and facilitate shared illness comprehensibility is crucial, which can enhances dyadic coping.

Dyadic coping

Illness perception

Cancer

Dissimilarity

The actor-partner interdependence model

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