Blackwell Reference Online

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A growing body of research indicates that marital discord is important for understanding the onset, course, and treatment of depression. In this chapter, we provide a selective review of the literature on marital functioning and depression, and a thorough review of the research on the effectiveness of couples therapy in the treatment of depression. Finally, we conclude with suggestions for future research and clinical practice. The quality of close, romantic relationships – most often measured in married couples and labeled as “discord,” “distress,” or “dissatisfaction” – covaries with depressive symptoms in cross-sectional studies. To provide an overall estimate of the strength of association between marital dissatisfaction and depressive symptoms, Whisman (2001b) conducted a meta-analysis of existing research; a meta-analysis is a summary of previous research that uses quantitative methods to compare outcomes across studies and provide a measure of the magnitude or degree of the association (i.e., an effect size). The weighted mean effect size ( r ) across 26 studies was .42 for women and .37 for men. The square of the effect size r (i.e., r 2 ) can be interpreted as the proportion of variance in either of the two variables that may be accounted for by the variance of the other variable. Squaring these effect sizes, therefore, suggests that 18% of the variability in women's ... log in or subscribe to read full text