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Marital functioning and depressive symptoms: evidence for a stress generation model
J Davila1, T N Bradbury, C L Cohan
1Department of Psychology, University of California, Los Angeles 90095-1563, USA. davila@psych.ucla.edu
Insights
Depression can increase marital stress, particularly for wives, through social support interactions. This marital stress then further fuels depressive symptoms, creating a challenging cycle.
Area of Science:
- Psychology
- Clinical Psychology
- Social Psychology
Background:
- Depressive symptoms can negatively impact relationships.
- The stress generation model explains how individuals create interpersonal stress.
Purpose of the Study:
- To test C.L. Hammen's stress generation model in marriage.
- To examine the role of social support in the link between depression and marital stress.
Main Methods:
- Longitudinal study of 154 newlywed couples.
- Assessed depressive symptoms, marital stress, and social support (perceptions and behavior) over one year.
Main Results:
- Evidence of marital stress generation was found in wives.
- Social support processes mediated stress generation for wives.
- A cyclical relationship between dysphoria and stress was observed in wives.
Conclusions:
- Depressive symptoms contribute to marital stress in wives.
- Social support dynamics play a key role in this stress generation process.
- Findings highlight the cyclical nature of depression and marital stress for wives.
Abstract:
The present study applied C.L. Hammen's (1991) stress generation model to depressive symptoms in the context of marriage. The authors predicted that depressive symptoms would lead to increased marital stress, which would in turn lead to increased depressive symptoms. Social support processes were hypothesized to function as a mechanism by which dysphoric spouses generate stress. Hypotheses were tested in a sample of 154 newlywed couples. Depressive symptoms, marital stress, support perceptions, and support behavior (assessed using observational procedures) were assessed initially and 1 year later. Results provided evidence of marital stress generation among wives, and social support processes functioned as a mechanism of stress generation for wives. Results highlight the cyclical course of dysphoria and stress among wives.