RESEARCH_FILE
Brennan D. Peterson
Chapman University
Known for:Dyadic research showing that mismatched coping and stress between partners — not either partner's distress alone — predicts relationship strain during infertility
Key findings
- 2003
With Newton and Rosen, finds that the gap between partners' perceived infertility-related stress — not either partner's stress level alone — predicts worse marital adjustment and more depression. Examining Congruence Between Partners' Perceived Infertility-Related Stress and Its Relationship to Marital Adjustment and Depression in Infertile Couples ↗
- 2006
In the largest coping study of its kind (1,026 patients), finds women use proportionately more confrontive coping, responsibility-taking, and support-seeking than men, who use more distancing and self-control — a gendered pattern in style, not in level of care. Coping Processes of Couples Experiencing Infertility ↗
- 2008
With Pirritano, Christensen and Schmidt, using data from 1,169 Danish women and 1,081 Danish men, shows one partner's coping strategy measurably affects the other partner's own distress — coping is a couple-level process, not just an individual one. The impact of partner coping in couples experiencing infertility ↗