The Couples' Illness Communication Scale (CICS): Development and evaluation of a brief measure assessing illness-related couple communication

Objectives. When one member of a couple has a chronic illness, communication about the illness is important for both patient and partner well-being. This study aimed to develop and test a brief self-report measure of illness-related couple communication. Design. A combination of correlations and multiple regression were used to assess the internal consistency and validity of the Couples' Illness Communication Scale (CICS). Methods. A scale to provide insight into both patient and partner illness communication was developed. The CICS was then tested on patients with ovarian cancer (N = 123) and their partners (N = 101), as well as patients with early stage multiple sclerosis (MS) who had stable partnerships (N = 64). Results. The CICS demonstrated good acceptability, internal consistency, convergent validity (correlations with general couple communication and marital adjustment), construct validity (correlations with intrusive thoughts, social/family well-being, emotional impact of the illness, and psychological distress), and test-retest reliability. Conclusions. The CICS meets the majority of psychometric criteria for assessment measures in both a life-threatening illness (ovarian cancer) and a chronic progressive disease (MS). Further research is required to understand its suitability for use in other populations. Adoption of the CICS into couple-related research will improve understanding of the role of illness-related communication in adjustment to illness. Use of this short, simple tool in a clinical setting can provide a springboard for addressing difficulties with illness-related couple communication and could aid decision making for referrals to couple counselling.