Actor and partner effects of positive affect on communal coping

Positive affect (PA) has been shown to facilitate the accrual of social resources which, in turn, reduces stress and improves health. These social resources may encourage interpersonal coping strategies, but this effect has been understudied. The present research examined if PA facilitates the interpersonal coping style of communal coping, defined as the perception of a stressor as shared (shared appraisal) and collaborative action to manage the stressor (collaboration). We assessed whether trait and state PA predicted increased collaboration and shared appraisal on the same day, and whether state PA predicted increased collaboration and shared appraisal the following day. Participants were romantic partners in which one person had recently been diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. Patients (n = 198, 45% female, 44.9% Black, 72% married) and their significant others completed daily diary surveys that assessed PA, negative affect, and diabetes-specific shared appraisal and collaboration for 14 days. Multilevel modeling was used to differentiate the effects of within-person (state) and between-person (trait) PA. Actor Partner Interdependence Modeling was used to assess the effects of both couple member’s mood on one person’s coping. Results showed partner state PA was cross-sectionally linked to shared appraisal, but the link of actor PA to shared appraisal was accounted for by the inclusion of actor NA. Both actor and partner state and trait PA were cross-sectionally linked to collaboration. Importantly, actor state PA predicted next-day shared appraisal. Findings provide initial support for the role of affect in predicting communal coping.