STRESS IN MARITAL INTERACTION AND DIET BEHAVIOR

✍ Scribed by SCHAFER, ROBERT B. ;SCHAFER, ELISABETH ;KEITH, PATRICIA M.

• Publisher: John Wiley and Sons
• Year: 1997
• Tongue: English
• Weight: 134 KB
• Volume: 13
• Category: Article
• ISSN: 0748-8386
• DOI: 10.1002/(sici)1099-1700(199707)13:3<145::aid-smi731>3.0.co;2-r

✦ Synopsis

The research examines the eects of stress in the marital relationship on dietary behavior. The theoretical model predicted that the marital stress of inequality and role disagreement would lead to an unfavorable re¯ected appraisal and low self-ecacy. The latter two variables are predicted to be related to the dietary indicator of fat consumption. One hundred and ®fty-®ve married couples were selected by a random area sample from the state of Iowa. Husbands and wives were interviewed separately in the home. The results supported the stress model. Marital interaction stress had an eect on diet as mediated by the re¯ected self (how one imagines they are perceived by signi®cant others) self-ecacy (perceived control over one's outcomes). Also, interesting gender dierences were found. For husbands, re¯ected appraisal was related to per cent calories from fat in the diet whereas for wives, self-ecacy was related to per cent calories from fat. The dierences in part re¯ect the changing role of women.