ABSTRACT
The main aim of the present study was to test the role of perceived social support as a potential mediator of the association among affect, negative life events and marital adjustment within the framework of the vulnerability-stress-adaptation model of marriage. To that end, it was planned to conduct the actor-partner interdependence model (APIM) to investigate not only the association among person’s own dimensions (actor effect) but also the association between person’s own and partner’s dimensions (partner effect). The study involved 165 married couples who were in their first marriages, had at least primary school education, lived in big cities, and got official marriage. Dyadic Adjustment Scale, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule, Life Experiences Survey, and Multidimensional Scale of Perceived Social Support were administered. The models were tested by utilizing a series of path analyze and by controlling length of marriage, number of children, and education levels of spouses. Results yielded that husbands who showed higher positive affect and experienced lower negative life events, perceived higher social support, and this in turn, predicted own marital adjustment as higher.
Keywords: affect, life events, social support, marital adjustment