Norwegian Institute of Public Health, Division of Mental Health, PO Box 4404, Nydalen, N-0403 Oslo, Norway.
BMC Public Health. 2012 Jan 22;12:66. doi: 10.1186/1471-2458-12-66.
Marital distress and depression frequently co-occur, and partnership quality is associated with depressive symptoms and mental disorders in both men and women. One aim of this study was to investigate the contribution of a set of risk factors for emotional distress among men and women in couples, with a special focus on satisfaction with partner relationship. The most important aim was to investigate the extent to which high relationship satisfaction in couples acts as a buffer against stressful events.
Pregnant women and their husbands (n = 62,956 couples) enrolled in the Norwegian Mother and Child Cohort Study completed a questionnaire with questions about emotional distress, relationship satisfaction, and other risk factors. Twelve potential risk factors were included in the analyses, including relationship satisfaction, demographic characteristics, and somatic diseases in men and women. Associations between the predictor variables and emotional distress were estimated by multiple linear regression analysis. Cross-spousal effects, in which data reported by one of the spouses predicted emotional distress in the other, were also investigated. Possible interaction effects between certain risk factors and self-reported and partner's relationship satisfaction were tested and further explored with regression analyses in subsamples stratified by relationship satisfaction scores.
The unique effects of relationship satisfaction were of similar sizes for both men and women: substantial for self-reported (β = -0.23 and β = -0.28, respectively) and weak for partner-reported satisfaction (β = -0.04 and β = -0.02, respectively). Other relatively strong risk factors were somatic disease, first-time motherhood, and unemployment. Self-reported as well as partner-reported relationship satisfaction appeared to strongly buffer the effects of a number of stressors.
Partner relationship dissatisfaction is strongly associated with emotional distress in men and women. Good partner relationship, both as perceived by the individual him(her)self and by the spouse, quite strongly moderates adverse effects of various types of emotional strain.
婚姻困扰和抑郁经常同时发生，伴侣关系质量与男性和女性的抑郁症状和精神障碍有关。本研究的目的之一是调查一系列风险因素对夫妻中男性和女性情绪困扰的贡献，特别关注对伴侣关系的满意度。最重要的目的是调查夫妻之间高度的关系满意度在多大程度上可以缓冲压力事件的影响。
参加挪威母婴队列研究的孕妇及其丈夫（n=62956 对夫妇）完成了一份关于情绪困扰、关系满意度和其他风险因素的问卷。在分析中包括了 12 个潜在的风险因素，包括关系满意度、人口统计学特征以及男性和女性的躯体疾病。通过多元线性回归分析估计预测变量与情绪困扰之间的关联。还调查了配偶之间的交叉影响，即一方配偶报告的数据预测另一方配偶的情绪困扰。测试了某些风险因素与自我报告和伴侣关系满意度之间的可能交互效应，并在关系满意度评分分层的子样本中进一步通过回归分析进行了探讨。
关系满意度的独特影响对男性和女性来说大小相似：自我报告（β=-0.23 和 β=-0.28）和伴侣报告（β=-0.04 和 β=-0.02）的满意度均为显著；其他相对较强的风险因素是躯体疾病、初产妇和失业。自我报告和伴侣报告的关系满意度似乎都强烈缓冲了许多压力源的影响。
伴侣关系不满意与男性和女性的情绪困扰密切相关。良好的伴侣关系，无论是个体自身还是配偶感知到的，都能很好地调节各种类型的情绪压力的不利影响。
