Stress and Coping in Maritally Distressed and Nondistressed Couples

Abstract

The present study evaluated the relationships among life stress, emotional distress, and coping in maritally distressed and nondistressed subjects. Four groups of couples were formed from a larger sample of subjects: one group of couples in which both partners' marital adjustment scores fell below the criterion for marital satisfaction (Dyadic Adjustment Scale = 100), two groups in which either the husband's or the wife's score fell below the criterion while their partner's score was above the criterion, and one group of couples in which both partners rated their marriage as satisfactory. This design permitted the isolation of effects attributable to husband and wife distress, both individually and in combination. The results indicated that when husbands were distressed, both they and their wives reported more depressive symptoms, more life stress, and more maladaptive coping. In contrast, when wives were maritally distressed, the effects were restricted to their own functioning; their husbands' responses and functioning did not differ from those of the husbands of nondistressed wives. These findings were interpreted as consistent with the assertion that women are more vulnerable than are men to life stress, and especially to stressors involving disturbances in their social field.