A central feature of a successful close relationship is the ability to resolve conflict. Accordingly, pattems of communication behaviors, and especially problem-solving behaviors, have become a central target for interventions aimed at alleviating or preventing marital distress. One particularly relevant set of behaviors occurs when one partner exhibits demanding behavior (e.g., pursuing changes in the relationship), while the other partner concurrently exhibits withdrawal behavior (e.g., attempting to avoid discussing the issue). This demand withdraw pattern (Christensen, 1987; 1988), while common in intimate relationships, is especially likely to be exhibited by distressed or less satisfied couples. This demand/withdraw pattern also shows reliable sex differences in the extent to which partners demand or withdraw during problem-solving discussions. Numerous studies have shown that, when attempting to resolve a problem, women are more likely to express demands and men are more likely to exhibit withdrawal. Some researchers have suggested that these sex-related differences are the result of physiological reactions to emotional stress. Gottman and Levenson (1988), for example, hypothesized that husbands exhibit greater degrees of withdrawal, because they experience aversive levels of physiological arousal during marital confrontations. Withdraw behavior is used by men to reduce the discomfort involved with such high arousal. Women, because they experience less arousal, are able to pursue confrontation (i.e., demand). Within the marital literature, this hypothesis has been widely discussed but rarely studied, and no studies have directly linked physiological responses of married partners during a problem-solving discussion to their behavior during that discussion. The first specific aim, therefore, is to determine whether elevated autonomic physiological reactions to emotional stress are in fact temporarily linked to the use of negative problem solving strategies (i.e., demand/withdraw behaviors) during marital conflict. The second specific aim is to determine whether these autonomic physiological reactions explain sex-related behavioral differences in women and men's marital problem-solving strategies. Finally, the third specific aim is to determine whether these autonomic responses are associated with marital distress. Testing these ideas will allow a better understanding of why demand and withdraw behaviors occur and will facilitate the prevention and treatment of negative marital interactions, which can decrease marital dissatisfaction and increase the probability of dissolution.
