The Effect of Marital Satisfaction and Dysfunctional Attitudes on Married Women's Depression

Kim, Eun Kyoung; Yi, Ho Taek; Paik, Ju Hee; Lee, Sang Yeon; Hong, Jong Mun; Lee, Jae Weon; Kim, Seon Moo; Huh, Tong Wook

Abstract

OBJECTIVES: This study was designed to examine the effect of marital satisfaction and dysfunctional attitudes on depression in married women.
METHODS
Forty depressed married female patients and 34 non-depressed married women as normal control group completed three self-report questionnaires, Beck Depression Inventory(BDI) Dysfunctional Attitude Scale(DAS) and Dyadic Adjustment Scale(DYAS) Marital satisfaction and dysfunctional attitudes were compared by student t-test between the two groups. Also, relative importances of each variables to depression were examined with stepwise multiple regression analysis.
RESULTS
Depressed patients reported significantly lower level of marital satisfaction and showed higher level of dysfunctional attitudes than normal controls. Dyadic satisfaction, approval need, and perfectionism subfactors were more important in predicting depressive symptomatology than other variables in patients.
CONCLUSION
We conclude that marital satisfaction has significant influence on development and maintenance of depression in married women, and in underlying thinking process, dysfunctional attitudes serve as a cognitive vulnerability factor. This conclusion involves the expectation that if dysfunctional attitudes of depressed married women could be changed positively, their marital satisfaction will be increased to higher level and depression will be decreased. Overall, our findings stress that we need to consider the degrees of marital satisfaction and dysfunctional attitudes of depressed maried women, when treating them, in order to individualize treatments and optimize our ability to predict responsiveness to therapy.