Examined four models of ways premarital cohabitation may affect marital quality using interview data from a national probability sample of 2,033 married persons. Found cohabitation was negatively related to marital interaction and positively related to marital disagreement, proneness to divorce, and the probability of divorce in nonminority…

Examines the age-at-marriage/marital instability relationship in a national sample (N=1,715). Results suggested that the relationship could be largely explained by inadequate role performance, though the specific inadequacies in performance differed somewhat for the early and later marrieds. (NRB)

Examines the health and contentment of husbands of employed women and husbands of housewives, replicating an earlier study. Improvements in sampling, measurement, and analysis procedures were incorporated into the restudy. Husbands of employed women evidenced no more signs of marital discord and stress than did spouses of housewives. (Author/BEF)

Examined data from 419 parents and their adult children to assess impact of parental marital quality and divorce while child is residing with parents on parent-child relations 12 years later. Low marital quality and divorce appeared to have independent effects on adult child-parent relations. Fathers' relationships suffered more than mothers';…

Used data on 1,298 married persons to examine effect of change in health over 3-year period on marital quality. Analysis suggests that decrements in health have adverse influence on marital quality. Changes in financial circumstances, shifts in division of household labor, declines in marital activities, and problematic behavior of afflicted…

Among 4,462 former servicemen surveyed, testosterone levels were positively related to not marrying and marital instability, and negatively related to every aspect of marital quality examined. Findings are analyzed in relation to three sociological theories of marital success based on socioeconomic status (educational attainment, income, and…

Describes the development of a scale specifically designed to measure marital instability among intact couples. Data from a telephone survey of 2,034 married men and women showed the Marital Instability Index to be a reliable and valid indicator. An abbreviated form of the index is presented. (Author/JAC)

Used interview data from national sample of married persons to examine extent to which people in remarriages have attributes that adversely influence marital quality/stability. Found that persons in remarriages were more likely to be poorly integrated with parents and in-laws, willing to leave marriage, be poor marriage material, and to have lower…

Describes investigation of ways in which combat decreases marital quality and stability. Results support three models: (1) factors propelling men into combat also make them poor marriage material; (2) combat causes problems that increase marital adversity; and (3) combat intensifies premilitary stress and antisocial behavior which then negatively…

Longitudinal data on over 1,300 married persons suggest that divorce was deterred by absence of divorce in reference group (normative integration) and was deterred for shorter marriages by more friends and organizational affiliations (communicative integration). Sharing friends and organization affiliations with spouse (functional integration) may…

An assessment of the "demography" of two forms of sexual behavior, marital intercourse and extramarital involvement, is presented. Findings suggest the sexual behavior of males and females is largely contextual. The more severe the marital strain, the lower the frequency of marital coitus and the more likely is extramarital involvement. (Author)

Among 1,243 adults nationwide, individuals who experienced parental divorce as children scored lower than those from happily intact families of origin on measures of psychological, social, and marital well-being. Multiple parental divorces and divorces involving deterioration of parent-child relations appeared particularly problematic. Contains 39…

Age at marriage, marital duration, religiosity and income have an effect on thinking about divorce independent of their effect on marital dissatisfaction. Wife's employment and the presence of preschool children are likely to lead to thoughts about divorce. (Author)

Used national longitudinal data to examine parent-child relationships before and after divorce. Parental reports of relationship problems with children were significantly elevated as early as 12 years prior to divorce. Findings suggest that the quality of the parents' marriage has both direct and indirect long-term consequences for parent-child…

Examined the impact of parental conflict during and after divorce, change in parent-child relations, and parent's remarriage on courtship relations in college students (N=365). Results showed that divorce increases courtship activity, and satisfaction is eroded only if there is postdivorce conflict and a decline in parent-child relations. (LLL)