Transmission of Depressive Symptoms

Abstract

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 own stress appraisals, which then predicted women’s increased depressive symptoms. Using the transactional model as a framework for the study of emotional transmission may help to gain a better understanding of its underlying mechanisms and possible gender or role effects involved.