Dyadic coping and marital quality in couples facing cancer: A gendered analysis of young and middle-aged partners.

This study aimed to examine the actor and partner effects of dyadic coping (DC) on marital quality in young and middle-aged couples coping with cancer and the potential moderating role of gender at the actor and partner levels using actor-partner interdependence moderation models. A total of 229 couples completed the Quality of Marriage Index and the Dyadic Coping Inventory. The results revealed the following: (a) Both patients' and their spouses' positive DC interacted with their own marital quality. (b) While positive DC showed actor/partner effects unaffected by gender, negative DC exhibited gendered asymmetry: Husbands' negative DC was associated with lower female patients' marital quality (b = -0.216, p = .035), with wives' negative DC having no similar effect on male patients. Our study highlighted the important role of gender in understanding the relationship between DC and marital quality, especially in the processes of young and middle-aged couples coping with cancer. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved).