Skip to main content
Contributions

Couples Coping with Stress

The Role of Empathic Responding

Published Online:https://doi.org/10.1027/1016-9040.14.1.18

The primary objective of the study was to increase understanding of interpersonal dimensions of stress and coping within married couples. Our sample included 82 couples living in a stepfamily context. Data were collected using structured telephone interviews and twice-daily questionnaires for a period of 1 week. Using matched-pair hierarchical linear modeling analysis, the study examined how stress and coping processes unfold over the course of a given day and across days within couples. First, we investigated antecedents of empathic responding, a form of relationship-focused coping. Second, we examined the role of empathic responding in within-couple variations in marital tension across days. We found that when greater personal significance was attached to family stressors, husbands and wives tended to increase their use of empathic responding. Also considered were the contextual effects of marital adjustment on how family stressors are experienced and managed by couples. The results indicate a link between marital adjustment and the use of empathic responding for both husbands and wives within couples. As well, the study suggests that marital adjustment plays an important role in determining whether the negative effects of stress will persist across days. Higher use of empathic responding was found to be associated with lower levels of next-day marital tension. When relational outcomes are considered, empathic responding may represent an adaptive way of coping with everyday stress. Our findings indicate that examination of relationship-focused coping may add to the theoretical and explanatory power of current models of stress and coping.

References

  • Argyle, M. , Furnham, A. (1983). Sources of satisfaction and conflict in long-term relationships. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 45, 481–493. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Badr, H. , Acitelli, L.K. , Taylor, C.L.C. (2007). Does couple identity mediate the stress experienced by caregiving spouses? Psychology and Health, 22, 211–229. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Barnett, R.C. , Raudenbush, S.W. , Brennan, R.T. , Pleck, J.H. (1995). Change in job and marital experiences and change in psychological distress: A longitudinal study of dual-earner couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69, 839–850. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Baucom, D.H. , Sayers, S.L. , Sher, T.G. (1990). Supplementing behavioral therapy with cognitive restructuring an emotional expressiveness training: An outcome investigation. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 58, 636–645. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Baumeister, R.F. , Leary, M.R. (1995). The need to belong: Desire for interpersonal attachments as a fundamental human motivation. Psychological Bulletin, 117, 497–529. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bodenmann, G. , Cina, A. (2005). Stress and coping among stable-satisfied, stable-distressed, and separated/divorced Swiss couples: A 5-year prospective longitudinal study. Journal of Divorce and Remarriage, 44, 71–89. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bodenmann, G. , Pihet, S. , Kayser, K. (2006). The relationship between dyadic coping and marital quality: A 2-year longitudinal study. Journal of Family Psychology, 20, 485–493. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bodenmann, G. , Shantinath, S.D. (2004). The couples coping enhancement training (CCET): A new approach to prevention of marital distress based upon stress and coping. Family Relations, 53, 477–484. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bolger, N. , DeLongis, A. , Kessler, R.C. , Schilling, E.A. (1989). Effects of daily stress on negative mood. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 57, 808–818. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Bryk, A.S. , Raudenbush, S.W. (1992). Hierarchical linear models: Applications and data analysis methods. Newbury Park, CA: Sage. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Carstensen, L.L. , Gottman, J.M. , Levenson, R.W. (1995). Emotional behavior in long-term marriage. Psychology and Aging, 10, 140–149. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Coyne, J.C. , Smith, D.A.F. (1991). Couples coping with a myocardial infarction: A contextual perspective on wives’ distress. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 61, 404–412. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Cutrona, C.E. (1996). Social support in couples: Marriage as a resource in times of stress. Thousand Oaks, CA: Sage. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Cutrona, C.E. , Suhr, J.A. (1992). Controllability of stressful events and satisfaction with spouse support behaviors. Communication Research, 19, 154–174. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Davis, M.H. (1994). Empathy: A social psychological approach. Madison, WI: Brown & Benchmark. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • DeLongis, A. , Capreol, M. , Holtzman, S. , O’Brien, T.B. , & Campbell, J. (2004). Social support and social strain among husbands and wives in stepfamilies: A multilevel analysis. Journal of Family Psychology, 18, 470–479. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • DeLongis, A. , Holtzman, S. (2005). Coping in context: The role of stress, social support, and personality in coping. Journal of Personality, 73, 1633–1656. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • DeLongis, A. , O’Brien, T. (1990). An interpersonal framework for stress and coping: An application to the families of Alzheimer’s patients. In M.A.P. Stephens, J.H. Crowther, S.E. Hobfoll, D.L. Tennenbaum, (Eds.), Stress and coping in later life families (pp. 221–239). Washington, DC: Hemisphere. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • DeLongis, A. , Preece, M. (2002). Emotional and relational consequences of coping in stepfamilies. Marriage and Family Review, 34, 115–138. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Eisenberg, N. (2000). Emotion, regulation, and moral development. Annual Review of Psychology, 51, 665–697. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Fincham, F.D. , Beach, S.R.H. (1999). Conflict in marriage: Implications for working with couples. Annual Review of Psychology, 50, 47–77. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Folkman, S. , Lazarus, R.S. , Dunkel-Schetter, C. , DeLongis, A. , Gruen, R.J. (1986). Dynamics of a stressful encounter: Cognitive appraisal, coping, and encounter outcomes. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 50, 992–1003. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Gottman, J.M. (1998). Psychology and the study of marital processes. Annual Review of Psychology, 49, 169–97. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Haan, N. (1977). Coping and defending: Processes of self-environment organization. New York: Academic Press. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Laurenceau, J-P. , Barrett, L.F. , Pietromonaco, P.R. (1998). Intimacy as an interpersonal process. The importance of self-disclosure, partner disclosure, and perceived partner responsiveness in interpersonal exchanges. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 74, 1238–1251. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Lyons, R.F. , Mickelson, K.D. , Sullivan, M.J.L. , Coyne, J.C. (1998). Coping as a communal response. Journal of Social and Personal Relationships, 15, 579–605. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • O’Brien, T.B. , DeLongis, A. (1996). The interactional context of problem-, emotion-, and relationship-focused coping: The role of the Big Five personality factors. Journal of Personality, 64, 775–813. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • O’Brien, T.B. , DeLongis, A. (1997). Coping with chronic stress: An interpersonal perspective. In B.H. Gottlieb, (Ed.), Coping with chronic stress (pp. 161–190). New York: Plenum. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Pihet, S. , Bodenmann, G. , Cina, A. , Widmer, K. , Shantinath, S. (2007). Can prevention of marital distress improve well-being? A 1-year longitudinal study. Clinical Psychology and Psychotherapy, 14, 79–88. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Preece, M. , DeLongis, A. (2005). Stress, coping, and social support processes in stepfamilies. In T.A. Revenson, K. Kayser, G. Bodenmann, (Eds.), Couples coping with stress: Emerging perspectives on dyadic coping (pp. 51–70). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Raudenbush, S.W. , Brennan, R.T. , Barnett, R.C. (1995). A multivariate hierarchical model for studying psychological change within married couples. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 9, 161–174. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Skinner, E.A. , Edge, K. , Altman, J. , Sherwood, H. (2003). Searching for the structure of coping: A review and critique of category systems for classifying ways of coping. Psychological Bulletin, 129, 216–269. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Snijders, T.B. , Boskers, R.J. (1999). Multilevel analysis: An introduction to basic and advanced multilevel modeling. London: Sage. First citation in articleGoogle Scholar

  • Spanier, G.B. (1976). Measuring dyadic adjustment: New scales for assessing the quality of marriage and similar dyads. Journal of Marriage and the Family, 38, 15–28. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Tennen, H. , Affleck, G. , Coyne, J.C. , Larsen, R.J. , DeLongis, A. (2006). Paper and plastic in daily diary research. Psychological Methods, 11, 112–118. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar

  • Vitaliano, P.P. , Maiuro, R.D. , Russo, J. , Becker, J. (1987). Raw versus relative scores in the assessment of coping strategies. Journal of Behavioral Medicine, 10, 1–18. First citation in articleCrossrefGoogle Scholar