Predicting Mental Health Based on Partners’ Marital Distress

Abstract

Since marital distress is a multidimensional phenomenon, research efforts directed at identifying meaningful groups of individuals with common characteristics based on their dissatisfaction in various relationship domains are important. In addition, it is important to examine this association not only among White majority-group couples but also among other ethnic groups, such as Mexican American couples, who may differ in terms of cultural values and customs. A latent profile analysis (LPA) of Caucasian and Mexican American newlyweds’ ( N = 278) self-reported marital distress identified four such groups. These groups showed a continuum of dissatisfaction as well as varying degrees of differences in partners’ views of traditional versus nontraditional gender roles. The classes resulting from the LPA were related to individuals’ mental health. Those individuals who found themselves in groups with higher distress also experienced higher levels of anxiety and depression than those individuals who found themselves in groups with lower distress. Although more research is clearly needed among larger and more diverse samples, the present findings may be useful to the field of marriage and family therapy in that they may guide prevention and intervention efforts in the field of marital distress and mental health.