Married and Depressed:How Couples Solve Conflicts when one has Depression

Depressive symptoms and styles of conflict resolution displayed by males (husbands) and females (wives) in marital conflict, including angry, depressive, and constructive patterns of expression. Depression is not only affects the patient but also the spouses to the maximum extent. Depression and marital conflict can influence bidirectional. Present study objective was to compare the conflict resolutions styles in depression and normal controls. This study was a cross - sectional, hospital based, single contact, time bound study. Purposive sampling technique was used to select the samples for the study. The study group comprised of 30 married individuals with depression whereas the control group consisted of 30 married normal individuals. Both the groups were assessed on a Socio-demographic data sheet, Hamilton rating scale for anxiety, Hamilton rating scale for depression and Conflict resolution styles inventory. It was found that there were significant differences in the conflict resolution styles of persons with depression compare to normal individuals and there were no significant difference between males and females of people with depression in conflict resolution styles. There were significant differences found in conflict resolution styles domains of conflict engagement, positive problem solving, withdrawal and compliance in people with depression in comparison with normal controls.