Abstract
This study investigated how perceived support and intimacy in romantic relationships affect mental health through the mediation of the Sense of Coherence (SOC), based on the salutogenesis model (Antonovsky, 1979, 1987). This article focused especially on the dyadic intrapersonal/interpersonal processes in this causal model. Eighty-five dating heterosexual couples completed a questionnaire. Structural equation modeling suggested that: (a) the SOC of males and females directly facilitated their own mental health; (b) through the mediation of SOC, males' and females' perceived support and intimacy facilitated their own mental health; and (c) through the mediation of males' SOC, females' perceived support facilitated males' mental health, whereas females' intimacy decreased males' mental health. These findings imply an association between romantic relationship and intrapersonal/interpersonal processes in the salutogenesis model.
