Relationship Quality and Hopelessness in Ovarian Cancer Patients: The Role of Emotion Dysregulation

In response to a cancer diagnosis, patients may experience hopelessness, a negative psychological state. Intimate partnerships influence psychological well-being among patients. As such, this study examined if intimate partnership quality was associated with hopelessness in ovarian cancer patients. Guided by the social influence hypothesis, emotion dysregulation was examined as a mediator of this association. Women with an ovarian cancer diagnosis in an intimate partnership (N = 184) were recruited from The Princess Margaret Hospital as part of a larger study. Data were analyzed using structural equation modelling. Two models were tested: 1) emotion dysregulation as a latent construct mediating the association between partnership quality and hopelessness, 2) individual facets of emotion dysregulation as mediators. No association was found between partnership quality and hopelessness. There was little support for emotion dysregulation as a mediator, either as a latent construct or separate facets. Resultant clinical implications and future research directions are discussed.