Dyadic coping: a systemic-transactional view of stress and coping among couples: Theory and empirical findings

This article investigates the field of stress and coping in close relationships. In an effort to move beyond an individually oriented focus, our work proposes a systemic-transactional approach to stress and coping in close relationships. In this conceptualization, stress and coping are understood to be the reciprocal and dynamic interplay between the stress signals of one partner and the dyadic coping reactions of the other. The theoretical and empirical findings concerning the proposed stress-coping-model in dyads are reported and discussed regarding the validity of this construct.