Most adults who suffer from a chronic illness are married or in an intimate relationship, yet the vast majority of behavioral interventions fail to address this relationship's impact or the effects of illness on the partner. Therefore, such interventions are not likely to be fully effective for many patients, and may even backfire. The purpose of this proposed K02 Independent Scientist Award (ISA) to Dr. Lynn Martire is to advance the development of couple-oriented interventions (CIs) for chronic illness that benefit both patients and spouses and also inform models of marriage and health. The focus of this award will be three chronic conditions that are the most deadly and costly of all health problems in the United States: cardiovascular disease, cancer, and diabetes. Dr. Martire's career development activities will address design, measurement, and analysis issues that are critical for the success of future CI research. The research activities of this ISA will add critical information to the literature on marriage and health, and inform the next generation of CIs, by focusing on how short-term processes that occur in the home environment affect health.
Aims #1 and 2 will examine daily processes in couples living with chronic illness, as well as individual and couple-level characteristics that moderate these processes, using dyadic diary data collected in studies of knee osteoarthritis and Type 2 diabetes.
Aim #3 is to collect pilot observational data on couples' health-related interactions in the home.
Aim #4 will apply findings from these and other projects to the development of an adaptive, cross-disease intervention for couples. The Candidate is uniquely poised to make significant advances in this area due to her research expertise in late-life chronic illness, family caregiving, and the effects of intervention on both patient and caregiver. Research and training activities will be facilitated by a team of Consultants who are leading experts in the areas of intimate relationships, health, longitudinal measurement and analysis, intervention development, and ecological momentary intervention. In addition, the Candidate has assembled a National Working Group of established researchers testing CIs for the three focal conditions of this ISA.

Public Health Relevance

Chronic illnesses account for 70% of all deaths in the United States and more than 75% of the nation's medical care costs. These conditions are most prevalent in middle-aged and older adults, and the majority of these individuals are married or in an intimate relationship. In order to contain escalating health care costs in the future, it is critical to identify strong behavioral approaches that target this relationship's impact on health.

Agency
National Institute of Health (NIH)
Institute
National Institute on Aging (NIA)
Type
Research Scientist Development Award - Research (K02)
Project #
5K02AG039412-04
Application #
8827229
Study Section
Neuroscience of Aging Review Committee (NIA)
Program Officer
Onken, Lisa
Project Start
2012-04-01
Project End
2016-03-31
Budget Start
2015-04-01
Budget End
2016-03-31
Support Year
4
Fiscal Year
2015
Total Cost
Indirect Cost
Name
Pennsylvania State University
Department
Other Health Professions
Type
Sch Allied Health Professions
DUNS #
003403953
City
University Park
State
PA
Country
United States
Zip Code
16802
Luyster, Faith S; Aloia, Mark S; Buysse, Daniel J et al. (2018) A Couples-Oriented Intervention for Positive Airway Pressure Therapy Adherence: A Pilot Study of Obstructive Sleep Apnea Patients and Their Partners. Behav Sleep Med :1-12
Wilson, Stephanie J; Martire, Lynn M; Graham-Engeland, Jennifer E (2018) Capturing patients' symptom expression and spouses' cardiovascular responses continuously: The feasibility of examining a mechanism of disease risk in the home. Fam Syst Health 36:518-522
Martire, Lynn M; Hemphill, Rachel C; Zhaoyang, Ruixue et al. (2018) Daily Marital Tension and Symptom Severity in Older Adults With Diabetes or Osteoarthritis. Ann Behav Med 52:842-853
Kong, Jooyoung; Jeon, Haesang (2018) Functional Decline and Emotional Elder Abuse: A Population-Based Study of Older Korean Adults. J Fam Violence 33:17-26
Lee, Soomi; Martire, Lynn M; Damaske, Sarah A et al. (2018) Covariation in couples' nightly sleep and gender differences. Sleep Health 4:201-208
Zhaoyang, Ruixue; Martire, Lynn M; Stanford, Ashley M (2018) Disclosure and holding back: Communication, psychological adjustment, and marital satisfaction among couples coping with osteoarthritis. J Fam Psychol 32:412-418
Smagula, Stephen F; Krafty, Robert T; Taylor, Briana J et al. (2017) Rest-activity rhythm and sleep characteristics associated with depression symptom severity in strained dementia caregivers. J Sleep Res 26:718-725
Wilson, Stephanie J; Martire, Lynn M; Sliwinski, Martin J (2017) Daily Spousal Responsiveness Predicts Longer-Term Trajectories of Patients' Physical Function. Psychol Sci 28:786-797
Martire, Lynn M; Helgeson, Vicki S (2017) Close relationships and the management of chronic illness: Associations and interventions. Am Psychol 72:601-612
Zhaoyang, Ruixue; Martire, Lynn M; Sliwinski, Martin J (2017) Morning self-efficacy predicts physical activity throughout the day in knee osteoarthritis. Health Psychol 36:568-576

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