Cognitive Reframing Strategies to Cope with Spousal Chronic Illness

Spousal chronic illness is a challenge for both partners. The ill partner suffers due to the disease. The well partner suffers as he/she takes on the additional burden of caring for the ill spouse. Thus although only one partner of the marital dyad is ill, both of the marital partners and their relationships as well as lives get affected. Spousal illness therefore necessitates reframing of the underlying cognitions, remodeling of personal relationships, and reorganizing of lives. Much of these have to be done by the well partners. The present study sampled 304 male and female caregivers belonging to the four age groups of 25-35 yrs, 36-45 yrs, 46-55 yrs and 56-65 yrs and explored the extent to which they used three specific cognitive reframing strategies adaptive outlook, mental renovations and relationship remodeling - in order to care for and cope with spouses who have been diagnosed with schizophrenia. Data were collected through face to face personal interviews with caregivers and analyzed using 2x4 ANOVAs to study the gender and age related differences in the use of cognitive reframing strategies. The analysis revealed a significant main effect of sex with respect to all three cognitive reframing strategies. As compared to female caregivers, male caregivers were found to make greater use of adaptive outlook, mental renovations and relationship remodeling in their daily living. The findings are discussed in the light of sex roles, gender role socialization and clinical researches. The worth of the study lies in showing how care giving experiences of females differ from that of males in terms of nature, structure, range, amount and quality and also how cognitive reframing interventions, particularly for women, could be of great benefit in the context of caring for their chronically ill spouse.