ABSTRACT
Family is the most highly ranked value in Hungarian society according to the European values study (EVS). This chapter reviews findings on the associations between chronic stress, mental health, and the role of close relationships in Hungarian society. It discusses important themes of dyadic stress in Hungarian couples, and reviews them with regard to the systemic transactional model (STM) of dyadic coping and the first empirical evidence with the dyadic coping inventory (DCI) in Hungary. The systemic transactional model (STM) of dyadic stress and coping may give a theoretical framework to understand the strength and weaknesses of Hungarian couples when coping with dyadic stress. The chapter provides new data on dyadic coping patterns and relationship satisfaction in a sample of Hungarian couples. Couple training or couple therapy may help fertility treatment patients and their partners to restructure their communication and reaction patterns around fertility problems and the stress caused by the treatment itself.
