This study examined some plausible factors that were expected to contribute to marital coping behaviors when married couples face marital conflict situations. Self-report measures were administered to a sample of 197 married community residents ranging in age from 23 to 82 years old. Exploratory path analyses were employed to examine the process-oriented nature of marital coping behaviors. Overall, the results revealed that connections between marital coping behaviors and the expected variables varied by the modes of coping examined. The models showed that marital strain plays an important and direct relation to positive approach, avoidance, conflict, and self-blame marital coping strategies. Age was found to play the only, and direct role, in contributing to self-interest and seeking social support marital coping strategies. Personality traits also were found to be directly related to three negative marital coping behaviors. A primary finding of the analyses was that marital conflict appraisal and social support were found to be indirectly associated with marital coping behaviors through their associations with marital strain or personality traits. The implications of these conclusions for clinical practice, the limitations of the study, and issues of future research are discussed.
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