Transmission of depressive symptoms: A study with couples undergoing assisted-reporduction treatment

Transmission of depressive symptoms among spouses is well documented. In accordance with the transactional stress model, cognitive appraisals were tested as indirect effects in transmission. In 82 couples (age range women: 23–44, men: 26–55), both partners’ stress appraisals and depressive symptoms were assessed at three measurement points throughout assisted-reproduction treatment. Relations among partners’ variables were tested using the actor-partner interdependence model. Findings indicated positive transmission effects of depressive symptoms from men to women across both measurement intervals. A positive transmission effect of stress appraisals from men to women was observed from before until after the pregnancy test. Women’s stress appraisals mediated part of the transmission of depressive symptoms from men to women. Men’s stress appraisals, however, were unrelated to women’s earlier depressive symptoms. Men’s earlier depressive symptoms might have operated as cues for women’s adjustment of their ow...

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