This study examines whether assets and consumer debts relate to change
in marital satisfaction and conflict in opposing ways or in independent ways. It also
tests whether these relationships are direct or mediated. Using a nationally representative
longitudinal sample, the results indicate that assets and consumer debt
influence change in marital outcomes in mostly independent rather than complementary
ways. Consistent with prior literature, assets work indirectly by decreasing
feelings of economic pressure. Consumer debt, however, directly predicts changes in
marital conflict, even after controlling for variables in the family stress model. Debts
also act indirectly by decreasing depression once economic pressure is included in
the model. This unexpected suppressor effect suggests that the meaning of debts may
not be straightforward.