This study investigated the relative contributions and the potential interactive effects of interpersonal dependency, intimacy, and control, as they relate both to the initiation and maintenance of current and chronic depression, and to the perceived marital satisfaction, of wives between the ages of 25 and 44. Subjects included 89 married female volunteers employed by the school system of a rural southeastern town. Seven self-report instruments assessed the impact of eleven predictor variables on five criterion variables. / Multivariate analyses consisted of seven canonical correlations and two separate causal models. Findings included the following: (1) Perceived discrepancies between actual and desired amounts of marital control did not contribute significantly to either depression or marital satisfaction. Gaps on the vacation decision, alone, were inversely related to marital satisfaction. (2) Perceived discrepancies between actual and desired levels of emotional, recreational, and intellectual intimacy were inversely related to marital satisfaction. (3) Wives who were interpersonally dependent upon their husbands were also more likely to experience depression. Emotional reliance was not significantly related to marital satisfaction. (4) The first path analysis demonstrated that the presence of emotional support is a critical causal factor for marital satisfaction, while its absence is critical in producing depression. Similarly, emotional reliance is a causal factor for depression. (5) The second path analysis separated out from emotional support the "Conventionality" or the "My relationship must look good" factor. The contribution of emotional support to either criterion variable diminished dramatically, while the relationship between emotional reliance and depression held. These findings and their implications for future research are discussed. / Source: Dissertation Abstracts International, Volume: 50-06, Section: A, page: 1561. / Major Professor: Gary W. Peterson. / Thesis (Ph.D.)--The Florida State University, 1989.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:fsu.edu/oai:fsu.digital.flvc.org:fsu_78019 |
| Contributors | Adams, Sheryl Lee., Florida State University |
| Source Sets | Florida State University |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Text |
| Format | 250 p. |
| Rights | On campus use only. |
| Relation | Dissertation Abstracts International |
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