The purpose of this study was to describe the emotional distress of women (N = 300) and husbands (N = 265) prior to the women's breast biopsy and to identify factors related to their levels of distress. Standardized instruments were used to measure social support, uncertainty, marital satisfaction, family functioning, concurrent stress, hopelessness, and emotional distress. Women reported moderately high levels of emotional distress and significantly more distress than their husbands. Forty-two percent of the variance in women's distress scores and 42% of the variance in husbands' distress scores were accounted for by the independent variables. Concurrent stress, lower education, hopelessness, and uncertainty explained the most variance in women's distress, while concurrent stress, hopelessness, and family functioning explained the most variance in husbands' distress.