ABSTRACT
Coping with stress has historically been viewed as an individual phenomenon. Specifically, psychodynamic theories focusing on the regulation of intrapsychic conflicts, stimulus-oriented approaches focusing on the impact of critical life events on humans, as well as reaction-oriented theories emphasizing endocrine and physiological reactions of individuals under stress were typically individual-oriented. Specifically, the Systemic Transactional Model (STM) by Bodenmann as well as other approaches in the early 1990s or the 2000s are the first known theories that started to perceive stress and coping as a social process rooted in close relationships, with a specific focus on the romantic partner. Dyadic coping includes partner-oriented behaviors or couple-oriented behaviors, according to individual and dyadic appraisals and goals. Apart from supportive, delegated, and negative dyadic coping, STM also includes common dyadic coping. Dyadic coping has two main functions, a stress-related and a relationship-related function.
