Understanding marital stressors. The importance of coping style

Previous survey work with 1591 married Chicago adults has demonstrated a close connection between symptoms of depression and current marital stressors (nonfulfillment of basic role expectations, lack of reciprocity between partners, and nonacceptance by spouse). The pertinent question now becomes which factors predispose toward marital stressors. We address this issue here by examining a broad array of variables to see which are most predictive of marital stressors by employing multiple regression analysis on data from the survey sample. A descending order of explanatory power of marital stressors occurs for the following categories of variables: respondent's style of coping with marital problems, behavior patterns within the marriage, personality factors of the respondent, other current social stressors, demographic variables, and marital circumstances. One coping style in particular, that of optimistic action, is more predictive of low marital stressors than any other single variable studied. The findings contradict several common beliefs about marital stressors: the presence of background differences between the spouses, a lack of consensus between the partners, and the presence of other social stressors (job, parenting, finances) are relatively poor predictors of marital discord.