Spouses' social control of health behaviors: Use and effectiveness of specific strategies

Forty-four couples described the strategics they used in attempting to prom pt their partner to engage in particular health behaviors, strategies wed b y their partner that were effective and ineffective in prompting their own engagement in health behaviors, and their own Psychological reactions to th e partner's we of social control. Strategies that were more frequently ment ioned as effective rather than ineffective included the partner also engagi ng in the desired health behavior; modeling the health behavior discussing health issues, and providing emotional support. Spouses reported feeling lo wer self-esteem, less positive affect, and more negative affect in response to their partner's we of ineffective rather than effective strategies. In addition, both spouses rated their partners' use of ineffective (compared t o effective) strategies as less motivated by a concert for the participant' s welfare and more motivated by their partner's own desire to exert control within the relationship.