Depressive Symptoms, External Stress, and Marital Adjustment: The Buffering Effect of Partner’s Responsive Behavior

Guided by theory emphasizing that partner responsiveness underlies well-functioning romantic relationships, we examined whether partners’ responsive behavior buffered the degree to which a personal vulnerability (depressive symptoms) and external stress predicted declines in relationship adjustment....

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Social psychological & personality science 2022-01, Vol.13 (1), p.220-232
Main Authors: Pietromonaco, Paula R., Overall, Nickola C., Powers, Sally I.
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Behavior
Dating
Marital adjustment
Marital relations
Mental depression
Responsiveness
Romantic relationships
Stress
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Summary:Guided by theory emphasizing that partner responsiveness underlies well-functioning romantic relationships, we examined whether partners’ responsive behavior buffered the degree to which a personal vulnerability (depressive symptoms) and external stress predicted declines in relationship adjustment. Using an existing data set, we tested whether individuals’ depressive symptoms and stress interacted with observer-coded partner responsive behavior during marital conflict discussions to predict change in marital adjustment at the next time point (N = 195 couples Time 1 [T1]–Time 2 [T2], 158 couples T2–Time 3 [T3]). Individuals experiencing greater (a) depressive symptoms or (b) stress showed sharper declines in marital adjustment. However, as predicted, the negative effects of both depressive symptoms and stress were attenuated when partners displayed high behavioral responsiveness. These findings underscore the importance of adopting a dyadic perspective to understand how partners’ responsive behavior can overcome the harmful effects of personal and situational vulnerabilities on relationship outcomes.
ISSN:1948-5506
1948-5514
DOI:10.1177/19485506211001687