The role of marital attributions in the relationship between life stressors and marital quality

This study examines the role that marital attributions play in the relationship between the occurrence of stressful life events and marital quality. Using a stress adaptation theory framework, data from 58 couples were used to test for the presence of a moderating relationship. The results supported the moderational model, indicating that the marital quality of couples who make relationship-enhancing attributions about their spouses’ negative behaviors is less related to stress than those who make distress-maintaining attributions. Couples’ successful adaptation to stress may be dependent on their ability to use their marital attributions as a coping resource. While the types of marital attributions a couple makes have the potential to make their marriage more vulnerable to the effects of stress, they also have the potential to serve a protective role. Stress adaptation theory examines the process of change through exploring how individuals and groups adapt and alter in the face of stressful life events. The occurrence of stressful events has long been found to have a potentially disruptive effect on the well-being of individuals (e.g., Monroe, Bromet, Connell, & Steiner, 1986; Turner, Wheaton, & Lloyd, 1995), families (S. Cohen & Hoberman, 1983; Conger et al., 1992), and interpersonal relationships (Karney & Bradbury, 1995; Pearlin & McCall, 1990). Much of the research on how families react to stressful events has shown the negative impact of such events on families. Research has also shown that though some families are destroyed by crises, others emerge from times of stress unscathed, while even others emerge with greater resources with which to face future crises (Walsh, 1996). This phenomenon has been termed as resilience: ‘‘. the capacity to rebound from adversity strengthened and more resourceful’’ (Walsh, 1998, p. 4). While the construct of resilience was first studied in children who were able to succeed and prosper later in life in the face of overwhelming stressors (e.g., Dugan & Coles, 1989; Rutter, 1985), there has been some work reflecting a shift in family research from deficit-based to strength-based approaches (Hawley &DeHaan, 1996). This line of research portrays the family relationship as potentially protecting family members against stressors and preventing dysfunction (National Institute of Mental Health, 1996; Wandersman & Nation, 1998). The concept of resilience has also been applied to the family unit. Family resilience, as defined by McCubbin and McCubbin (1988), is ‘‘. the adaptive qualities of families as they encounter stress, particularly those processes promoting coping, endurance, and survival’’ (p. 248). Stress adaptation models The adaptation of the family has been portrayed as depending on an interaction between James M. Graham is now at Department of Psychology, Western Washington University. Correspondence prior to September 2006 should be addressed to James M. Graham, Argosy University— Chicago, Illinois School of Professional Psychology, 350 N. Orleans St., Chicago, IL 60654, e-mail: jmgraham@ argosyu.edu. Correspondence beginning September 2006 should be addressed to JamesM. Graham, Department of Psychology, WesternWashingtonUniversity, 516High Street, Bellingham, Washington 98225-9089. E-mail: [email protected]. Personal Relationships, 13 (2006), 231–241. Printed in the United States of America. Copyright 2006 IARR. 1350-4126=06