Marital satisfaction as a potential moderator of the association between stress and depression

Yuze Shi, Mark A. Whisman*

*Corresponding author for this work

Research output: Contribution to journalArticlepeer-review

Abstract / Description of output

Background
Stress and marital dissatisfaction have been identified as risk factors for depression in separate lines of research. However, the interaction between stress and marital satisfaction in predicting depression over time has rarely been examined, despite the fact that marital satisfaction may weaken (i.e., buffer) the impact of stress on depression. This longitudinal study evaluated marital satisfaction as a moderator of the association between stress and depressive symptoms in a probability sample of American married adults.

Methods
Married respondents from Wave I and Wave II of the Americans' Changing Lives (ACL) study (N = 1392) completed measures of marital satisfaction, stressful life events, and depressive symptoms at baseline and three-year follow-up.

Results
Marital satisfaction and stressful life events were significantly associated with depressive symptoms in cross-sectional analyses and uniquely predicted depressive symptoms three years later, controlling for prior depressive symptoms. However, marital satisfaction did not moderate the association between stressful life events and depression. A sensitivity analysis of data from Wave IV and Wave V of the ACL yielded similar findings, supporting the replicability of the results.

Limitations
Broader assessment on stressful life events and assessment of perceived stress would provide a stronger test of the association between stress and depression as well as the degree to which this association is moderated by marital satisfaction.

Conclusions
Attending to both stress and marital satisfaction may provide a more comprehensive understanding of risk for depression than exclusive focusing on either stress or marital satisfaction, which may have beneficial implications for preventing and treating depression.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)155-158
Number of pages4
JournalJournal of Affective Disorders (JAD)
Volume327
Early online date31 Jan 2023
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 14 Apr 2023

Keywords / Materials (for Non-textual outputs)

  • depression
  • diathesis
  • life stress
  • longitudinal study
  • marriage
  • probability sample

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Marital satisfaction as a potential moderator of the association between stress and depression'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this