Interpersonal Interactions in the Marital Pair and Mental Health: A Comparative and Correlational Study

Abstract

Interpersonal interactions as social processes reflect and influence individuals' mental health. The aim of the study was to verify how marital interactions relate to mental health, and to investigate evidence for the validity of the Checklist for Interpersonal Transactions II (CLOIT-II). Participants were 169 couples from the southeast of the Brazilian state of Goiás, aged between 18 and 55 years (M = 21; SD = 5.48). They responded to a General Health Questionnaire (GHQ) and the CLOIT-II. Participants with low mental health problem scores in the GHQ (asymptomatic participants) tended to occupy interpersonal positions in the range between Deference/Trust and Affective warmth/Friendliness. In the group with high scores (symptomatic participants), interactions were defined by Coldness/Hostility. Mental health problems were positively correlated with mistrust, coldness and hostility and negatively correlated with positions of Affiliation. These results, in addition to supporting the validity of the CLOIT-II, indicate that the study of interpersonal relationships is relevant for the understanding of mental health.

Interpersonal interactions within couples: Convergences and divergences between self-description and partner’s perception

“…According to this observation, it is speculated that the conjugal adjustment is not associated with the presence of a typical interpersonal theme but rather with the specific characteristics of the couple's interaction. Moreover, the elevation values (-0.07, 0.01; 0.30) did not show interpersonal stress for any of the descriptions, which is in agreement with the results found by Couto et al (2015). Since a typical behavior was not identified, the distribution of the descriptions of the groups over the circle was considered based on the circular statistics.…”

“…This result corroborates the hypothesis about the underestimation of behaviors more related to dominance in the self-descriptions. It was also found that the interviewers' perceptions were the most similar (σ 2 =67.51º), while the highest interpersonal diversity was found in the subjects' self-descriptions (σ 2 =88.33º), corroborating the findings of Silva and Vandenberghe (2009) and Couto et al (2015).…”

“…This is mainly due to the fact that they believe that they exhibit a friendly behavior, which is congruent with their partner and observer's perceptions. Other authors (Couto et al, 2015) have shown that the clear prevalence of friendly interpersonal behaviors and low level of hostility distinguish couples who have a healthy relationship from those who have complaints of mental suffering. Dysfunctional relationships have a greater variety and less congruence of intense interpersonal attitudes, showing both hostile and friendly interactions.…”

“…Therefore, there is greater acceptance of behaviors and expressions of negative feelings than in other types of relationships (Silva & Vandenberghe, 2009). Accordingly, Couto, Vandenberghe, and Tavares (2015) found that distrust, coldness, and hostility in a relationship were associated with higher number of complaints of mental suffering. Thus, intervention techniques based on emotional acceptance, tolerance building, and empathy have been extensively studied in the context of couple therapy (Briggs, Finley, & Sprenkle, 2015).…”