Managing stress together: benefits and correlates of dyadic coping in couples

Dyadic coping is the way partners cope together against stress and support each other in times of difficulty. Research on dyadic coping has mainly focused on the individual and relational consequences of it and showed that positive dyadic coping responses significantly contribute to partner’s relationship functioning and stability. Research on the specific components of the dyadic coping process and on its correlates, however, has been relatively scarce. One aspect that has only been recently investigated by the dyadic coping research refers to the stress communication component of the process. To what extent the way the partner communicates his/her stress may facilitate or obstacle positive dyadic coping responses by the other partner? To what extent the other’s sensitivity and responsiveness to the partners’ communication of stress does promote positive outcomes of the dyadic coping process? Moreover, several individual and relational processes related to partners’ coping can promote or hinder the dyadic coping process. In particular, individual emotion regulation strategies (e. g., down regulation of negative emotions, emotional intelligence) were found to be associated with positive relationship outcomes as well as with more positivity and less negativity in couples’ interactions. How is individual emotion regulation associated with dyadic coping and ultimately with partners’ relationship satisfaction? Capitalization is a relational process similar to dyadic coping in several respects, but involving partners’ communication about and responses to positive events. How are dyadic coping and capitalization associated? The present symposium will delve into these issues with the aim of adding new knowledge on the dyadic coping process and deriving implication for preventive interventions designed to help couples cope together more effectively.