How Managed Stress Can be of Benefit for Strengthening Romantic Relationships
By Aleksia Sandvig, Isabel Varela, Juliana Herrera-Arias, David B. Allsop
April 30, 2026
This blog is a summary of our published article:
Dew, J. P., LeBaron, A. B., & Allsop, D. B. (2018). Can stress build relationships? Predictors of increased marital commitment resulting from the 2007–2009 recession. Journal of Family and Economic Issues, 39, 405–421. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10834-018-9566-7
Photo by iStock
Financial stress is normally defined as any anxiety or related feeling regarding money and expenses, and has been previously linked to causing strain in marital relationships [1]. However, there is little research regarding if stress, particularly financial stress from the 2007-2009 recession, had any positive impact on marital relations and commitment [1,2].
What did we want to know?
The researchers wanted to explore if married couples experienced positive benefits from facing financial stress together, and how that can be related to increased marital commitment.
What did we do?
Data from 1362 married heterosexual couples in the U.S. aged 18-45 was collected. The survey included questions about relationship agreement and commitment and measured recession stressors during the time the data was collected. This allowed researchers to identify patterns in the data of factors that were influencing a higher marital commitment in some couples than in others.
What did we find?
The data from this study showed that not all relationships struggled with marital commitment under stress. In fact, some showed quite the opposite. For some couples, the subjective stress from the recession actually increased their commitment to one another. When couples worked together and viewed it as ‘them’ against the financial stress, it led to an increase in marital commitment.
What does this mean?
Marital commitment is impacted more by internal factors than external influences. The study found that marriage commitment can increase because of financial stress, depending on how the couple navigates the stress. In other words, it depends on the couple themselves to determine if they want to face the problem as individuals, or as a unit. This means that prioritizing commitment can strengthen a relationship during financial stressors. Mutual support and maintaining a strong marriage in the face of financial stress is crucial to the relationship’s outcomes. Future research should investigate the role of financial stress in relationships from different perspectives, given its complex outcomes.
Photo by iStock
References
[1] Lau KKH, Randall AK, Duran ND, Tao C. Examining the Effects of Couples' Real-Time Stress and Coping Processes on Interaction Quality: Language Use as a Mediator. Front Psychol. 2019 Jan 15;9:2598. doi: 10.3389/fpsyg.2018.02598. PMID: 30697175; PMCID: PMC6340998.
[2] Ledermann, Thomas, et al. “Stress, Communication, and Marital Quality in Couples.” Family Relations, vol. 59, no. 2, 2010, pp. 195–206. JSTOR, http://www.jstor.org/stable/40663953. Accessed 31 Mar. 2026.
