Abstract

The purpose of this study is to identify the relationship between depressive symptoms and marital communication behaviors, and to examine the independent effect of depression on communication behaviors in controlling the effects of marital satisfaction and self-esteem. Subjects were a community sample of sixty-three couples married for seven years or less. 11 depressive group and control group were determined by self-report questionnaire(CES-D) and structurized clinical interview(SADS). After filling out the questionnaire, each couple discussed about their own problems for about 30∼45 minutes. Their discussions were tape-recorded and used as observational data. Results show gender differences in the relationship between depressive symptom and marital communication behavior. In cases of husbands, depressive symptom has a significant negative relationship with marital satisfaction and self-esteem. And self-esteem is related to the positive communication behavior. In cases of wives, depressive symptom has a significant negative relationship with marital satisfaction and positive relationship with the negative communication behavior. Also, results show differences between depressive group and normal group. Depressive husbands express positive communication behavior less than normal husbands, and depressive symptomatology has an independent effect even when the effects of marital satisfaction and self-esteem were controlled as covariates. Meanwhile, depressive wives express negative communication behavior more than normal wives. In wives, depressive symptomatology doesn't have an independent effect in controlling the effects of marital satisfaction and self-esteem as covariates. Only marital satisfaction itself has a significant effect on negative communication behaviors.