Negative Affectivity and Educational Attainment as Predictors of Newlyweds’ Problem Solving Communication and Marital Quality

Abstract

This investigation examines the role of negative affectivity and educational attainment in newlywed couples' mutual problem solving and marital quality (i.e., personal commitment and divorce proneness). The vulnerability-stress-adaptation (VSA) model of marital development was used as a framework to explain the relationships between enduring vulnerabilities, adaptive processes, and marital quality. Dyadic analyses and tests of indirect effects were performed on data from 186 couples who had been married on average for 1.5 years. Spouses' negative affectivity and educational attainment were significantly associated with their own and their partner's mutual problem solving, personal commitment, and propensity to divorce. In addition, there was evidence supporting the assumption that the relationships between enduring vulnerabilities and marital quality can be explained, in part, by mutual problem solving for husbands. This study highlights the important role that enduring vulnerabilities have on mutual problem solving communication and marital quality.

Family Relationships Under Work From Home: Exploring the Role of Adaptive Processes

“…The current study aims to examine the effects of each adaptive process rather than their comparison, and thus two separate path models were used to study the two adaptive processes. This practice is consistent with previous studies on the VSA ( 63 ). PROC CALIS in the SAS software was used to conduct path analysis ( 64 , 65 ).…”

Understanding America: Unequal Economic Returns of Years of Schooling in Whites and Blacks Race, Years of Schooling, and Economic Wellbeing

“…As discussed by Mirowsky and Ross, economic wellbeing is one of the reasons education enhances health (Mirowsky & Ross, 2015;Ross & Mirowsky, 1999. Higher economic wellbeing also enhances health through altering senses of control over life, mastery, stress exposure, and healthy behaviors (Lantz et al, 1998;Woszidlo & Segrin, 2013). Higher economic stability may also mediate the effect of educational credentials on health (Montez, Hummer, & Hayward, 2012;Ross & Mirowsky, 1999).…”

Dyadic Coping Across the Lifespan: A Comparison Between Younger and Middle-Aged Couples With Breast Cancer

“…Increased rates of divorce after 4 and 10 years of marriage have been associated to personality traits, stress, aggression, and poor communicative behaviors (Lavner and Bradbury, 2010). Investigations of the effects of personality traits and stressful events on marital satisfaction in recently married couples confirmed that partners' occupation, work interference, and family stress were negatively associated with marital satisfaction (van Steenbergen et al, 2011; Woszidlo and Segrin, 2013). Furthermore, economic hardship has been associated with higher rate of conflict (Halliday Hardie and Lucas, 2010), lower life satisfaction, higher pessimism (Haid and Seiffge-Krenke, 2012) and negative communication (Williamson et al, 2013) for newly-weds.…”

“…Second, contextual and generational factors may impact younger couples' vulnerabilities, as younger generations report higher levels of stress, often associated with financial insecurity and un-healthy lifestyles, when compared with previous generations (American Psychological Association, 2015). Third, while there is little disagreement that marital satisfaction decreases with time (Bradbury and Karney, 2014), the literature about close relationships has provided over the last decades evidence of relational and psychological difficulties for newlyweds and younger families (Carstensen et al, 2003, 2011; Amato and Hohmann-Marriott, 2007; Luong et al, 2011; van Steenbergen et al, 2011; Scabini and Rossi, 2012; Woszidlo and Segrin, 2013; Bradbury and Karney, 2014). Researchers have recently identified different trajectories within the first years of marriage which are associated to marital dissolution.…”