Abstract
Marital quality during the beginning of a relationship impacts the couple’s relational trajectory. Based on the Vulnerability, Stress and Adaptation model (VSA) and using an online questionnaire, we sought to understand which variables predict marital quality among 353 Brazilians (78.8% women; 74,4% heterosexual) who had been cohabiting for up to three years, and which variables moderate the relationship between conflicts resolution strategies and marital quality. Regression analyses showed that differentiation of self and conflict resolution strategies had similar and greater explanatory weight than the stressful contextual variables in explaining marital quality variance. Differentiation of self, job satisfaction, and length of cohabitation moderated the relationship between conflict resolution strategies and marital quality. Partially corroborating the VSA model, the study discusses dynamics specific to the early stages of a relationship.
Keywords:
Marital relations; Couple dynamics; Marital conflict; Marriage
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