Conflict Buffers and Marital Satisfaction: On the Effects of Different Forms of Social Support

This paper deals with the deterioration in the subjective quality of life of women as a result of marital conflict. Whereas primary and secondary prevention are generally targeted at maintaining or increasing the current level of marital happiness this paper focuses on the possibilities for buffering the negative impact of conflict on women’s quality of life. In particular, this paper is interested in the conflict buffering effects of various forms of social support such as home visiting by professional social workers or informal contacts with peers. In order to assess and compare the effectiveness of these forms of tertiary prevention, data from interviews with young mothers in the city of Zurich (Switzerland) will be reanalyzed. The data confirm the phenomenon of stress buffering from social support and reveal variation with regard to the effectiveness of different stress buffers. Female peer support e.g. seems to be at least as successful as home visiting by professional nurses and social workers.