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The role of spouses' depression and anger in the attribution—marital satisfaction relation

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Abstract

This study examined spouses' depression and anger, causal attributions for negative marital events, and marital satisfaction in a community sample of 312 newlywed couples. The results showed moderate intercorrelations among these variables for both husbands and wives. Regression analyses showed that spouses' attributions accounted for unique variance in marital satisfaction after controlling for own and partners' affect. Additional findings regarding affect and marital satisfaction were discussed.

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This research was supported by a grant (R01 AA07183) from NIAAA to Kenneth E. Leonard. We appreciate the helpful comments of Tom Bradbury and Linda Roberts.

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Senchak, M., Leonard, K.E. The role of spouses' depression and anger in the attribution—marital satisfaction relation. Cogn Ther Res 17, 397–409 (1993). https://doi.org/10.1007/BF01177662

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