Marital functioning and depressive symptoms: Evidence for a stress generation model.

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.

Cites (55)

1. An inventory for measuring depression
   BECK, A. T. · 1961 · Archives of General Psychiatry
2. Psychometric properties of the Beck Depression Inventory: Twenty-five years of evaluation
   Beck, Aaron T., Steer, Robert A., Carbin, Margery G. · 1988 · Clinical Psychology Review
3. EQS : structural equations program manual
   Peter M. Bentler · 1989 · Medical Entomology and Zoology
4. Measuring Dyadic Adjustment: New Scales for Assessing the Quality of Marriage and Similar Dyads
   Spanier, Graham B. · 1976 · Journal of Marriage and the Family
5. Depression: Causes and treatment
   1973 · Behavior Therapy
6. The functioning and well-being of depressed patients. Results from the Medical Outcomes Study
   Kenneth Brooks Wells · 1989 · JAMA
7. The longitudinal course of marital quality and stability: A review of theory, method, and research.
   Karney, Benjamin R., Bradbury, Thomas N. · 1995 · Psychological Bulletin
8. Toward an Interactional Description of Depression
   Coyne, James C. · 1976 · Psychiatry
9. Generation of stress in the course of unipolar depression.
   Hammen, Constance · 1991 · Journal of Abnormal Psychology
10. Untitled work
    1974

Show all 55 references

Cited by (30)

1. Stress and Depression
   Hammen, Constance · 2005 · Annual Review of Clinical Psychology
2. Economic pressure in African American families: A replication and extension of the family stress model.
   Rand D. Conger, Lora Ebert Wallace, Yumei Sun, Ronald L. Simons, Vonnie C. McLoyd, Gene H. Brody · 2002 · Developmental Psychology
3. Development of gender differences in depression: An elaborated cognitive vulnerability–transactional stress theory.
   Hankin, Benjamin L., Abramson, Lyn Y. · 2001 · Psychological Bulletin
4. Marital quality and personal well-being: a meta- analysis
   Proulx, Christine M., Helms, Heather M., Buehler, Cheryl · 2007 · Journal of Marriage and Family
5. Stress generation in depression: Reflections on origins, research, and future directions
   Hammen, Constance · 2006 · Journal of Clinical Psychology

See all 372