Financial Stress and Marital Quality: The Moderating Influence of Couple Communication

Abstract

This study explores the negative relationship between financial stress and marital quality and examines couple communication as a moderator in this relationship. Using a sample of 373 married U.S. couples from the Flourishing Families Project, an Actor-Partner Interdependence Model (APIM) was run to determine the influence of husbands' and wives' financial stress on both their own and their partner's reports of marital quality. Results found negative associations between both actor and partner reports of financial stress and marital quality. Couple communication did not moderate the associations between husbands' and wives' financial stress and wives' marital quality. However, it did moderate the negative associations between both husbands' and wives' financial stress and husbands' marital quality. Specifically, the deleterious relationship of financial stress to marital quality for husbands was significantly less severe when coupled with positive couple communication. Implications for financial therapists and avenues for future research are discussed.

Changes in employment and relationship satisfaction in times of the COVID-19 pandemic: Evidence from the German family Panel

“…Conger et al 2010;Karney and Bradbury 1995). In fact, studies indicate that low income and financial hardship are linked to increased couple conflict (Hardie and Lucas 2010) and reduced marital quality (Kelley et al 2018). Whereas short-time work prevents unemployment, the associated partial loss in earnings and changed everyday routines suggest negative effects of short-time work on relationship satisfaction.…”

Introduction to the Special Issue on Couples, Families, and Finance

“…Finally, Crapo et al drew from the family adjustment and adaptation response (FAAR) model to examine financial stress and perceptions of spousal behavior over time in remarriages. The FAAR model has been used by other researchers (e.g., Dew et al 2018;Kelley et al 2018; as a lens through which to examine how financial demands, capabilities, and meanings interact to predict family outcomes. Crapo et al examined whether (1) early financial stress had a direct effect on the perceptions that spouses hold toward partner behavior in the areas of positive and negative behaviors and initiation of sexual advances over time and (2) whether such perceptions mediated the effect of early financial stress on perceived marital stability within remarital contexts.…”

A párkapcsolattal való elégedettség időbeli alakulása: lehetséges pályák és befolyásoló tényezők

“…Az empirikus eredmények szerint a gazdasági nehézségek a párkapcsolat működésének legtöbb dimenziójára károsan hatnak, kiemelten az interakció minőségére (Hardie and Lucas, 2010;Aytac and Rankin, 2009;Conger et al, 1990). Bizonyos eredmények szerint a nők érzékenyebbek a rossz anyagi helyzet hatásaira: Kelley és munkatársai kutatásában az anyagi stressz a pár mindkét tagjának párkapcsolati minőségére negatív hatással volt, ugyanakkor a férfiak esetében a társsal történő megfelelő kommunikáció e hatást csökkentette, a nők esetében viszont nem (Kelley et al, 2018). Az eredmények alapján a kutatás hipotézise, hogy a nélkülöző anyagi helyzet negatívan befolyásolja a párkapcsolattal való elégedettség mértékét.…”