Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine how hostility from either partner in a marital interaction affected marital partners' perceived general physical health, while investigating for indirect effects of partners' depression. A total of 296 married couples who participated in Waves 1 and 2 of the Flourishing Families Project were videotaped while completing a marital discussion task. Their interaction was coded for hostile behaviors using the Iowa Family Interaction Rating Scales, IFIRS. Structural equation modeling was used to examine how hostility in marital interactions at Wave 1 was related to partners' self-reports of physical health as measured by the RAND Health Survey 1.0 and depression as measured by the CES-D at Wave 1. Health of partners was controlled for at Wave 1. Findings from structural equation modeling showed that the husband's hostility directly affected his own general physical health and indirectly affected it through his depression. His hostility indirectly affected his wife's general physical health through her depression. The wife's hostility indirectly affected her physical health through her depression.

Degree

PhD

College and Department

Family, Home, and Social Sciences; Family Life; Marriage and Family Therapy

Rights

http://lib.byu.edu/about/copyright/