The association of patients' psychosocial well-being with self and spouse ratings of patient health

Adjustment to illness is influenced both by individual resources and the support available front a marital partner. In this study of 61 male heart patients and their wives, patients' self-rated health and the agreement between patient and spouse ratings of the patients' health were investigated as contributing to patients' psychosocial well-being. Patients' positive self-rating of health and also spouses' rating that concurred with their own self-rating were related to greater well-being among patients. The advantage to patient well-being of shared spouse appraisals beyond patients' own health appraisal extends the growing literature indicating the predictive utility of individual subjective health appraisals by demonstrating the added value of the perceptions of spouses who share the illness context.