Couple and Family Psychology: Research and Practice, Vol 15(3), Sep 2026, 201-211; doi:10.1037/cfp0000288
Depression is associated with decreased relationship satisfaction, and identifying what may moderate this association is important for informing clinical interventions for individuals in romantic relationships and suffering from depression. Dyadic coping, how couples manage stress together, has been demonstrated to have strong associations with relationship satisfaction. Most past research on dyadic coping, however, has been conducted with predominantly White samples. To extend these findings, we conducted a study examining the associations between depressive symptoms, dyadic coping, and relationship satisfaction among Asian American individuals. We hypothesized that dyadic coping from a partner, particularly in the form of supportive dyadic coping (i.e., providing emotional or problem-focused support) and joint dyadic coping (i.e., both partners trying to manage stress and cope together), would moderate the association between depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction. We found that supportive dyadic coping attenuated the relationship between depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction, such that the negative association between depressive symptoms and relationship satisfaction was stronger when supportive dyadic coping was low and weaker when supportive dyadic coping was high. Supportive dyadic coping may be particularly beneficial for Asian American adults in romantic relationships with elevated depressive symptoms. This is important insofar as Asian Americans may be less likely than their White counterparts to adopt supportive dyadic coping. (PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2026 APA, all rights reserved)