Marital Stress, Psychological Distress, and Healthful Dietary Behavior: A Longitudinal Analysis

Abstract

This longitudinal study examined the role of marital and psychological distress on healthful dietary change. A theoretical model is proposed that specified barriers to healthful dietary behavior as mediating the effect of depressive symptoms, role disagreement, inequity, and education on dietary change over time. Subjects were 97 married couples interviewed in their homes at 2 separate times. Selection in the first wave was by random area sampling based on population concentration. The findings provide evidence of the negative influence of interpersonal and intrapsychic distress on positive dietary change. For wives, marital and psychological distress and the barriers to dietary change were important factors in actual changes in dietary behavior. For both husbands and wives, higher barriers were associated with lesser positive dietary change.