When poor communication does and does not matter: The moderating role of stress.

Abstract

Although a number of theoretical perspectives in relationship science argue that variability in couples' relationship satisfaction over time is driven by changes in their communication, tests of this hypothesis have been limited to single assessments of behavior. To address this gap, we examine within-couple, across-time changes in communication, and we argue further that couples' external circumstances might combine with these behavioral changes to generate changes in relationship satisfaction. Using self-reports of satisfaction and in-home observational data collected 4 times at 9-month intervals from 414 newlywed couples, we show that fluctuations in dyadic behavior and spousal stress covary with fluctuations in spousal satisfaction. Tests of the interaction between fluctuations in stress and behavior reveal that husbands who experience upward fluctuations in negativity also experience decreases in relationship satisfaction at the same wave but only if they are concurrently experiencing greater stress than usual. Downward fluctuations in problem-solving effectiveness are associated with lower relationship satisfaction but only among spouses who had chronically high levels of cumulative stress; when chronic stress is low, reduced problem-solving effectiveness is unrelated to satisfaction. Exclusive focus on betweencouple variability in couple communication, without regard for the stressors that couples face, will likely restrict the understanding and prevention of relationship distress.

Within-Couple Associations Between Communication and Relationship Satisfaction Over Time

“…Two other studies examined lagged associations between communication and satisfaction. Using the same sample as Nguyen et al (2020), Lavner and colleagues (2016) found no consistent pattern linking negative, positive, or effective communication with later relationship satisfaction. Among the 36 longitudinal communication-to-satisfaction paths estimated with all four waves of data (9-month lags), only seven were significant, and all cross-lagged links were small in magnitude.…”

“…To our knowledge, only three studies have sought to explicitly examine within-person associations between couple communication and relationship satisfaction with repeatedmeasures longitudinal data. The first study of these three drew on four waves of observational data gathered across the first 3 years of marriage among socioeconomically disadvantaged newlywed couples (Nguyen et al, 2020) to examine whether within-person fluctuations in positive (e.g., being affectionate), negative (e.g., showing contempt), and effective (e.g., generating solutions) observed communication covaried with concurrent fluctuations in relationship satisfaction and whether these results were moderated by stress. Results revealed husbands and wives were more satisfied than was typical for them at times when positive communication was higher than normal.…”

“…These studies represent important steps in attempting to understand within-person associations between communication and satisfaction, but they are not without limitations. Nguyen et al (2020) used multilevel modeling to focus on within-person associations, but did not examine lagged links between these constructs. Lavner et al (2016) and Johnson et al (2018) used the autoregressive cross-lagged panel model (CLPM; Campbell, 1963), which has recently been critiqued for failing to disaggregate between-and withinperson sources of variance (Berry & Willoughby, 2017;Hamaker et al, 2015;Mund & Nestler, 2019).…”

“…Previous empirical work found varying levels of support for this possibility (Johnson et al, 2018;Lavner et al, 2016), but it has been alluded to in earlier theoretical work; for example, the VSA model (Karney & Bradbury, 1995) argues that "judgments of marital quality will affect how spouses contend with and resolve various difficulties and transitions" (p. 23). The use of ALT-SR modeling in this study allows for the simultaneous consideration of both lagged within-person pathways, as well as concurrent within-person associations: whether deviations in couple communication are linked with deviations in relationship satisfaction at the same time point (as in Nguyen et al, 2020). The analyses also include the cross-sectional and longitudinal between-person associations between communication and relationship satisfaction, given that modeling these between-person associations is necessary to ensure that the within-person results truly capture within-person effects (Curran et al, 2014).…”

Relationship Functioning During COVID-19 Quarantine

“…Second, managing external stress depletes the energy and resources needed for people to effectively manage relationship problems (Buck & Neff, 2012). The more people are facing stressful events, the more they behave in blaming, critical and hostile ways (Barton & Bryant, 2016;Barton et al, 2015;Bodenmann et al, 2015;Masarik et al, 2016;Neff & Karney, 2004Williamson et al, 2013), which in turn predicts declines in relationship quality (Barton et al, 2015;Neff & Karney, 2004;Nguyen et al, 2020). Thus, people facing greater stress during COVID-19 quarantines should experience greater relationship problems, Figure 1.…”