The Vulnerability-Stress-Adaptation (VSA) Model[1] is a framework in relationship science for conceptualizing the dynamic processes of marriage, created by Benjamin Karney and Thomas Bradbury.
The VSA Model emphasizes the consideration of multiple dimensions of functioning, including couple members' enduring vulnerabilities, experiences of stressful events, and adaptive processes, to account for variations in marital quality and stability over time.
The VSA Model posits that couples who have few enduring vulnerabilities, encounter few stressors, and employ effective adaptive processes are likely to experience high marital quality and stability, while couples who have many enduring vulnerabilities, encounter many stressors, and employ ineffective adaptive processes will experience declining marital quality and/or divorce.
Consideration of attachment theory:The VSA model considers how stable personal characteristics can elicit the experience of stressful life events and can affect couples' ability to adapt to the marital difficulties these stressors breed.
1) Research has shown that unemployment in a blue-collar worker population[6] and increases in the daily workload of air traffic controllers[7] covary with more negative behavioral exchanges between spouses.
1) Research has shown that lower marital quality predicts longer periods of recovery from heart attacks, and it is likely that the behaviors exchanged between patients and their spouses mediate this effect.
[19] 2) Research has suggested that negative communication can hold positive implications for relationship quality if spouses view the conflict interaction as the way to resolve a problem.