Sage Journals: Discover world-class research

Abstract

This study examines the relationships between depression and marital adjustment in Hispanic couples as measured by the Beck Depression Inventory—II and the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. The participants were 98 married Hispanic couples from Las Vegas and San Antonio area churches and community centers who volunteered to participate in this study. Correlations for husbands and wives and the total group between depression and overall marital adjustment and the subscales of marital adjustment were significant. In addition, the husbands’ and wives’ depression scores were significantly correlated to one another. Furthermore, the relationship between husbands’ marital adjustment scores and wives’ depression scores was significantly stronger than the inverse relationship of wives’ marital adjustment with husbands’ depression. The results of this study support an interactional theory of depression and thus highlight the need to take both members of a couple and the cultural dynamics into consideration when developing interventions to treat depression.

Keywords

depression and marital adjustment Hispanic couples interactional theory of depression cultural dynamics

Get full access to this article

View all access options for this article.

References

Beck, A. T. , Steer, R. A. , & Brown, G. K. (1996). Manual for the Beck Depression Inventory—II. San Antonio, TX: Psychological Corporation.

Benazon, N. R. , & Coyne, J. C. (2000). Living with a depressed spouse. Journal of Family Psychology, 14, 71-79.

Cohen, J. (1988). Statistical power analysis for the behavioral sciences (rev. ed.). New York: Lawrence Erlbaum.

Contreras, R. , Hendrick, S. S. , & Hendrick, C. (1996). Perspectives on marital love and satisfaction in Mexican American and Anglo-American couples. Journal of Counseling and Development, 74, 408-414.

Coyne, J. C. (1976). Depression and the response of others. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 85(2), 186-193.

Coyne, J. C. , Kessler, R. C. , Tal, M. , Turnbull, J. , Wortman, C. B. , & Greden, J. F. (1987). Living with a depressed person. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 55(3), 347-352.

Howes, M. G. , Hokanson, J. E. , & Loewestein, D. A. (1985). Induction of depressive affect after prolonged exposure to a mildly depressed individual. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 49(4), 1110-1113.

Olin, G. V. (1984). Depression and adjustment in marriage. Ann Arbor, MI: University Microfilms International, 1-163. (UMI No. 8425049)

Olin, G. V. , & Fenell, D. L. (1989). The relationship between depression and marital adjustment in a general population. Family Therapy, 16(1), 11-20.

10.

Spanier, G. B. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 15-28.

11.

Spanier, G. B. (1989). Manual for the Dyadic Adjustment Scale. North Tonawanda, NY: Multihealth Systems.

12.

Youngren, M. A. , & Lewinsohn, P. M. (1980). The functional relation between depression and problematic interpersonal behavior. Journal of Abnormal Psychology, 89, 333-341.

A Correlational Study Between Depression and Marital Adjustment in Hispanic Couples

Abstract

Keywords

Get full access to this article

References