A longitudinal study on environmental and dispositional determinants of life quality: Social support and coping with physical illness

As part of a longitudinal study on adaptation with a national sample of cardiac patients, socio-environmental and psychological variables were investigated regarding their influence on life quality. Reports by both spouses on positive and negative aspects of their marital relationship were found to have mainly a same-domain impact on positive and negative affect. Experienced social support appeared to have a weak buffering effect in the negative affect domain. Stable characteristics of the marital bond, along with dispositional factors, were suggested as an explanation for the relative stability and statistical association of scores on the Bradburn Affect Balance Scale. A two-factor model of well-being that treats positive and negative affect as independent processes appeared to be supported by a multivariate analysis of longitudinal data.