Psychopathology and Marital Satisfaction: The Importance of Evaluating Both Partners

Using path analysis and hierarchical linear modeling, the authors evaluated the associations between both partners ’ level of depression and anxiety, as measured by Minnesota Multiphasic Personality Inventory–2 (MMPI-2) content scales, and both partners ’ level of marital satisfaction among married couples (N 774) that participated in the MMPI restandardization study (J. N. Butcher, W. G. Dahlstrom, J. R. Graham, A. Tellegen, & B. Kaemmer, 1989). Results indicated that marital satisfaction was predicted by the person’s own level of anxiety and depression (i.e., actor effects) and by his or her spouse’s level of depression only (i.e., partner effects). Findings also indicated that (a) there were no significant gender differences in the magnitude of effects, (b) depression effects were significantly stronger than anxiety effects, (c) actor effects were significantly stronger than partner effects, and (d) there were interactions between actor and partner effects for depression only. There is a growing body of research findings indicating that psychopathology is intricately linked with marital functioning (for a review, see Whisman & Uebelacker, 2003). Furthermore, be-cause relationship satisfaction “dominates the attention of mar-riage researchers ” (Norton, 1983, p. 141) and has been identifie