Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

The Protective Role Of Couple Communication In Moderating Negative Associations Between Financial Stress And Sexual Outcomes For Newlyweds, Jocelyn S. Wikle, Chelom E. Leavitt, Jeremy B. Yorgason, Jeffrey P. Dew, Heather M. Johnson

Faculty Publications

This study longitudinally examined the sexual costs of economic distress in newlywed couple relationships. Family stress theory posits an association between economic pressure and family relationships. The ability of financial strain to contaminate non-financial aspects of a marriage is troubling considering that many newlyweds report difficulty with financial adjustments after marriage. Positive communication may be a skill that enables young couples to alleviate economic pressure, and the study evaluated the moderating roles of financial communication, sexual communication, and relational communication. Utilizing an actor-partner interdependence moderation model, hypotheses were tested using dyadic data from 2044 couples from a nationally representative sample …