Evidence for a Stress-Generation Model of Depression in Distressed Marriages A Multi-Level Longitudinal Growth Analysis

Erica Slotter

Date of Award

2005

Document Type

Thesis

Degree Name

Bachelors

Department

Social Sciences

First Advisor

Ryan, Kimberly

Keywords

Psychology, Relationships, Depression

Area of Concentration

Psychology

Abstract

Past research has shown that marriage can have profound health benefits for individuals. Unfortunately, distressed marriages often leave couples worse off in terms of overall well-being than unmarried persons. (Robles & Kiecolt-Glaser, 2003; Kiecolt Glaser & Newton, 2001; Hoffman, 1998) Numerous studies, taken from both clinical and community samples, and completed using several different types of methodologies, have established a relationship between marital satisfaction and depression in married individuals. Additionally, external stressors have been found to be related to the decline of marital satisfaction and elevated levels of depression in the individual, which are, in turn related to higher levels of stress. This is termed the stress-generation model (Davila et al., 1997; Hammen, 1991). The goal of the current research is to use an existing data set of distressed couples' responses to well-validated self-report measures and state-of-theart statistical analyses (Karney, 2001; Singer, 2002; Singer & Willock, 2003) to determine the directional relationships present between perceptions of external stressors, depression levels, and marital discord using an already maritally distressed sample. The current study hypothesizes that evidence for a stress-generation model of perceived external stressors, depression, and marital satisfaction. The current study found that, overall, the marital satisfaction of a couple decreases over time. Additionally, high initial levels of depression and perceived stress intensity significantly lower initial levels of marital satisfaction. However, prolonged exposure to these high levels of perceived stress and depression yield a shallower longitudinal trajectory of decline for these couples, as compared to their counterparts experiencing less stress and depression over time. Previous research suggests that this unexpected finding may be a reflection of shifting selective attention within the marital unit (Robin, 2003; Aff1eck, Urrows, & Tennen, 1996; Ahles, Blanchard, & Leventhal, 1983), as well as being a possible by-product of other underlying processes not investigated by the current study.

Rights

This bibliographic record is available under the Creative Commons CC0 public domain dedication. The New College of Florida, as creator of this bibliographic record, has waived all rights to it worldwide under copyright law, including all related and neighboring rights, to the extent allowed by law.

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