The Indirect Effects of Financial Conflict on Economic Strain and Marital Outcomes Among Remarried Couples

Remarriages account for about one-third of all marriages in the United States; however, the research on remarried couple outcomes is limited, particularly regarding finances and financial conflict. The family economic stress model theorizes that economic hardship promotes economic strain, which in turn promotes emotional distress and conflict patterns that have negative impacts on relationship satisfaction and relationship stability. This study used actor-partner interdependence path analysis of secondary cross-sectional dyadic data from 158 remarried couples to examine the direct and indirect effects of each spouse's economic strain on their own marital satisfaction and stability, as well as on their spouse's marital satisfaction and stability, with financial conflict as an intermediary variable. Tests for indirect effects indicated that financial conflict strongly influences the relationship between economic strain and the remarriage outcomes (i.e., satisfaction and stability); none of the direct paths between economic strain and the remarriage outcomes were significant when accounting for financial conflict as a mechanism. Results indicated that, in the context of a remarriage, a spouse's perception of how much they have conflict about finances is a key mechanism that explains the association between that spouse's perception of economic strain and their marital satisfaction and stability when controlling for household income and marriage length. Crossover effects indicated both spouses' perceptions of financial conflict predicted one spouse's marital stability from the other spouse's economic strain. Clinicians without specific training in financial management may intervene effectively to improve remarriage relationships by helping spouses reduce couple financial conflict when experiencing economic strain.